Our History
Big Brothers Big Sisters is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most effective youth mentoring organization. It all started in 1904, when a young New York City court clerk named Ernest Coulter was seeing more and more boys come through his courtroom. He recognized that caring adults could help many of these kids stay out of trouble, and he set out to find volunteers.
That marked the beginning of the Big Brothers movement. More than 100 years later, Big Brothers Big Sisters remains true to our founders’ vision of bringing caring role models into the lives of children. And, today, Big Brothers Big Sisters currently operates in all 50 states—and in 12 countries around the world.
Locally, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lancaster County has helped to form more than 2,500 One-to-One relationships between children and responsible adult role models since our inception in 1968.
Our Mission
The Mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1 to 1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
