Dear Big Brother Applicant, Big Brothers of Rhode Island was founded in 1952 by the late Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Family Court, Francis J. McCabe. Judge McCabe decided there were too many boys coming before his court that could be helped and saved if only an adult male (a Big Brother) would take an interest in the boy. He sought out men and women from all parts of the state who shared his deep concern. Among them were the late Colonel Maurice M. Wolfthe and the late George Katz, who served as the first Executive Director of our organization. Later, after a long and distinguished career as Development Director at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, George Katz returned to serve on our Advisory Board of Directors. The mission of Big Brothers of Rhode Island is to offer fatherless boys the opportunity to further their growth and development through a friendship with a role model. The most important element in Big Brother work is the one-to-one concept of a therapeutic friendship between a male volunteer and a fathlerless boy. A volunteer Big Brother is interested in helping out a fatherless boy along the road to good citizenship without assuming any legal or financial responsibility. A Big Brother is someone who cares. He becomes the source of new hope and faith in a young boy's life. A Big Brother derives numerous rewards from helping a fatherless boy. Big Brothers enjoy taking their Little Brothers to ballgames, the zoo, library, and other exciting places. A Big Brother may even develop new interests as a result of his friendship with a boy who has had experiences different from his own. The rewards derived from the experiences of a Big Brother are made possible by virtue of knowing a less fortunate little boy has been helped along the road of life. If you are interested in giving a fatherless boy the biggest break in his young life, please fill out the application below and send it to our agency. Big Brother Application You must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to view and print this application. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed, please visit Adobe's web site to download it for free.

Rhode Island Sports Heroes offers Big and Little Brothers opportunities to get involved in professional sporting events. See their website for details about upcoming events: www.risportsheroes.org.