Vice President of Business Development & Director of Philanthropy for Greenfield Savings Bank Tara Brewster (left) and A2Z owner Devon Boulay pose outside of Jackson Street Elementary School during last year’s inagural run of the Lunch Buddies program through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County.
Photo credit: Big Brothers Big Sisters
CHD’s Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County is expanding their successful school-based Lunch Buddies program by adding two additional school sites for the 2025-26 school year.
Initiated last school year at Jackson Street Elementary School in Northampton, the program matches vetted community-based adults with students for a shared lunch and board game experience. After recounted effective and positive outcomes at Jackson Street, the program will now include two additional schools beginning this fall at Wildwood Elementary in Amherst and Ryan Road Elementary in Florence, in the site-based program.
CHD Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County Program Supervisor Miranda Maguire told Reminder Publishing that Lunch Buddies was started as a means of strengthening intergenerational relationships and broadening access to mentorship.
“Our community-based model is great and it’s not always accessible to everyone as far as the youth and the mentors go, so Lunch Buddies offers a different method and delivery model of mentorship,” said Maguire.
Students and Hampshire County adults, which include a bank manager, a retired paraeducator and a senior systems analyst, will meet once a week during the school lunch period. Each volunteer is matched with one of the youths in the program and they are guided and supervised by the case workers of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County.
“So instead of going out into the community and having their own schedule, this is a scheduled thing to show up at the same time, same day, every week. It’s bringing the mentorship to the kids where they’re at. Every kid goes to school, so that’s a great place to meet them at,” said Maguire. “For the mentors, I mentioned intergenerational relationships, a lot of our Lunch Buddies mentors are retirees or semi-retirees. We also have some working professionals as well, but specifically, there’s no age cap on being a mentor. As long as you’re able to form a meaningful relationship with a youth, you can be a Lunch Buddy.”
Last year’s volunteers have shared their experiences and how dedicating just 30 minutes of their lunch break made such an impact on their life and created a genuine friendship. One of the mentors from last year’s program, Cynthia Stanton, is returning this year and shared her experience for the inaugural year.
“I live in a retirement community and wanted to volunteer at a nearby place. Lunch Buddies at Jackson Street school filled the bill. As with many volunteer efforts, I got so much more than I gave,” said Stanton. “What I never expected was to enjoy being in a well-run elementary school and to have such fun playing games with my Lunch Buddy. He opened up after a few weeks and enjoyed beating me at games, which he did most of the time. I am looking forward to next year, serving as a Lunch Buddy.”
Helping to launch the program in 2024 were local businesses A2Z Science & Learning Toy Store, and Greenfield Savings Bank. Devon Boulay, owner of A2Z, supplied all the board games and puzzles for the program and has pledged to fulfill all the needs for the additional schools.
Greenfield Savings Bank has also stepped forward to help sponsor the program.
“We believe that children are our future, and if we tend to them, they will be better humans. BBBS of HC has shown to be a good partner in this effort so when they approached GSB for support of their new Lunch Buddies program, we of course said yes,” said Vice President of Business Development & Director of Philanthropy for Greenfield Savings Bank Tara Brewster. “Thank you to BBBS for your innovation and support of the children and families of Hampshire County. When we work together, we work better and more effectively.”
With the addition of the Lunch Buddies program along with the community-based mentoring program, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County is able to reach more youth in the regional community.
Maguire said anyone interested in becoming a mentor can reach out to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County for more information. She added they are mainly targeting working professionals who have consistent lunch breaks or retirees.
With the success seen at Jackson Street school last year, the expansion comes with the hopes of bringing the experience into other communities as well.
“It’s so beautiful to see them light up when they see their mentors show up. They were just so excited to have a special adult who is only theirs. They don’t have to share their attention with any other kids, they get their own table in the library, and they get to do things on their own terms,” said Maguire. “Having a special adult show up for you week after week, that just really creates a sense of belonging and it makes you feel like you matter.”
Further expansion is currently to be determined, Maguire added, saying it would depend on the needs of communities as well as the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County’s ability to staff sites. Still, she said they are thrilled to have three sites for the upcoming school year.
Maguire said it’s great to see such a special program expanding through communities and catching wind.
“At the heart of our work is the belief in the capacity to thrive when offered meaningful connection. We know that every young person already has potential in them to accomplish great things, and we believe that this form of mentorship defends this potential and supports bringing it to fruition,” said Maguire. “Some kids have a hard time getting up and going to school and finding motivation, and this is something special they get to look forward to in their school day.”
