Innovative Volunteer and Fundraising Programs Recognized With National Awards
Tampa, Fla. (June 30, 2016) — Each year, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America honors the top corporate partners and individual leaders who make significant contributions in order to help the organization serve children facing adversity through mentorship. During the 2016 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America National Conference Awards Gala presented by Comcast NBCUniversal, BBBSA honored Bank of America; Do it Best Corp.; The Duke Endowment; Greenberg Traurig; Mark Tillman, the general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; and Peggy Hofman, former BBBS board member.
“All of these award recipients had a desire to do more than contribute financially. They all collaborated with our organization to find creative solutions for serving more children across the country,” said Pam Iorio, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. “We are honored to have partners who are passionate about the life-changing impact mentorship has on our Bigs and Littles.”
Do it Best Corp. received the highest honor of the night, the President’s Award, for its 30-year partnership with BBBSA. Do it Best Corp. has provided more than $2.4 million in financial contributions and has also encouraged employees to become involved through fundraising and volunteerism.
For her devotion to the cause of mentorship, Peggy Hofman received the top individual honor, the Charles G. Berwind Lifetime Achievement Award. Hofman passed away earlier this year, leaving a legacy of 20 years of dedicated local leadership, strengthening the Seattle affiliate, and elevating the national board.
Bank of America received the Chairman’s Award for its programmatic and philanthropic contributions to the BBBS network, including more than $500,000 in donations and employee volunteerism. In 2015, nearly 400 Bank of America employees volunteered more than 7,500 hours with BBBS.
The Community Impact Award was presented to Mark S. Tillman, General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Under Tillman’s leadership, more than 700 Alpha Phi Alpha chapters across the have supported BBBS in a variety of ways, from fundraising drives to volunteer recruitment events. Tillman is a three-time Big Brother himself, and hundreds of fraternity members have followed in his footsteps by becoming Bigs.
The Duke Endowment received the Enterprise Award, which recognizes a BBBS partner whose vision helps lead to innovative programming. Since 2001, The Duke Endowment has provided more than $5 million in grant funding. This included funding for the Agency Information System, a platform for tracking child safety and match outcomes.
Greenberg Traurig was recognized as this year’s Common Good Award winner. This award recognizes a partner that provides an extensive in-kind investment of services to benefit the common good of BBBS. Greenberg Traurig’s team of 43 lawyers and business staff from 14 offices across the country provided more than $1 million in pro bono legal services to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters provides children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Big Brothers Big Sisters ensures that the children in its program achieve such measurable outcomes as educational success, avoidance of risky behaviors, higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships. This mission has been the cornerstone of the organization’s 111-year history. With over 300 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves nearly 170,000 children (“Littles”), their families and 170,000 volunteer mentors (“Bigs”). Learn more at www.BigBrothersBigSisters.org.
