Greensburg-based Laurel Region Big Brothers Big Sisters named national Agency of the Year

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America named the Laurel Region branch in Greensburg as its national Agency of the Year in the “Small Agency” category.

Four affiliates in the small, medium, mid-large and large agency categories were chosen from among 279 agencies across the U.S.

“Just like everyone else, we were devastated when the pandemic hit,” said Stephanie Babich Mihleder, executive

director of the Laurel Region. “We knew that our clients would need support more than ever.”

The agency delivered record-breaking mentoring match numbers, debuted new fundraising ideas, found unique ways to recruit new volunteers and launched the “Big Futures” program, with the goal of helping youth transition into adulthood.

“We worked around the clock to adapt our methods and keep the lines of communication open with ‘Littles’ and families, ensuring our agency would not only survive, but thrive,” Mihleder said.

The Agency of the Year award recognizes affiliates that demonstrate “consistent and exponential growth in the children and families served by their community,” according to BBBS national officials, who said the recognition would be significant in any year, but particularly during a year of new challenges introduced by the covid-19 pandemic.

“It was incredible to watch our staff, board and volunteers come together to prevail during such a difficult time,” said Lauren Region Board President Chuck Shoff.

Mihleder said a shift in the agency’s volunteer-recruiting strategy paid off heavily.

“We tried to understand where we should be trying to get people to notice us,” she said. “The first thing we did was totally change the Facebook page’s focus from event-related to mission-related posts. We celebrated all our mentoring matches on there, and those numbers have gone up by 800%.”

Mihleder said staff work to combat the misconception that being a “Big” is a time-consuming activity.

“It’s much easier than people think,” she said. “We typically ask ‘Bigs’ to hang out with ‘Littles’ twice a month.”

The pandemic also showed Mihleder the agency could perform a lot of functions virtually.

“We’ve been holding volunteer info sessions online, where folks can meet employees, ask questions and find out more about the program,” she said. “We also started our first-ever recruitment committee.”

Shoff said the Agency of the Year designation is validation of the Laurel Region’s operational and strategic initiatives.

“We look forward to serving even more children and families in our community,” he said.

Opened in 1975, the Laurel Region agency serves Westmoreland and Fayette counties and currently supports more than 100 mentoring relationships.

For more, see BBBSLR.org.