NASHVILLE, TN — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee is hosting its annual breakfast fundraiser virtually for the second consecutive year on Friday, December 10, 2021, from 7:30-8:30 a.m. The agency’s 2021 Annual Breakfast: Maximizing Impact and Intentionality will highlight the strides it has made in justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and layout its plans for the upcoming year.
“Each year, I look forward to our annual breakfast, but I am especially excited about the program we have planned for 2021. The event will spark important conversations in our community about how critical it is to keep diversity, equity, and inclusion at the center of youth-serving organizations,” said BBBSMT CEO Melissa Hudson-Gant. “The past year and a half have been uniquely challenging for all youth, but especially youth of color. We are committed to continuously improving and innovating to meet their needs, and this event will highlight how we do just that.”
BBBSMT’s 2021 Annual Breakfast will feature BBBSMT executives, community partners and award recipients, along with volunteers and youth directly involved the agency’s programs. It will include a round table discussion about the importance of centering diversity, equity and inclusion in youth development and mentorship, and will feature the following Middle Tennessee leaders, Erika Glover, Reporter and Anchor at Fox17 and a BBBSMT Big Sister; Brian Sexton, Community Development and Special Projects Manager at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency; Robert Sherrill, CEO at Imperial Cleaning Systems and President of Youth Impact Outreach; Shawn Reilly, Program Coordinator for the Trans Buddy Program at the Program for LGBTQ Health at Vanderbilt; and Melissa Hudson-Gant, CEO of BBBSMT.
This event is BBBSMT’s largest fundraiser of the year, supporting a substantial portion of its programs. The funds raised will allow the agency to expand its partnerships, programs, and recruitment efforts, particularly its Mentor Corps Fellowship which recruits and compensates highly sought-after mentors, such as Black and African American men, LGBTQ+ and Spanish-speaking individuals.
The BBBSMT 2021 Annual Breakfast can be viewed all day on December 10, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at either www.mentorakid.org or on the agency’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mentorakid.
BBBSMT would like to thank its platinum sponsors Delta Dental of Tennessee, Hunt Brothers Pizza, and INPSIRE1, LLC Consulting Firm, and its gold sponsor UPS for making the event possible and providing valuable resources that support its programs to ignite the power and promise of Middle Tennessee youth.
Since 1969, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee (BBBSMT) has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is incredible potential. As a part of the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, BBBSMT makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages nine through young adulthood in eight counties throughout Middle Tennessee. It develops positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people. Its mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
For more information, visit mentorakid.org.