'Big' Effort

By Heidi Terry-Litchfield
Morris Daily Herald Writer

TUESDAY DECEMBER 11, 2007

JOLIET - Duct tape can be found holding the walls together at the current Big Brothers Big Sisters office in Joliet.

According to a recent appraisal, the building “is not functional, nor is it physically reasonable to rehab or add onto.”

The building sits in a small converted home on Plainfield Road, where water retention on the property after rain has resulted in a breeding ground for termites and rodents that have also infested the building, according to published reports.

It's due to the conditions of the existing building, which BBBS has inhabited since the early 1990s, that the organization is announcing the first-ever capital campaign for a new building.

BBBS currently serves Will and Grundy counties, and has done so 1972. The goal of the organization is to match at-risk children primarily from single-parent homes with dedicated mentors.

Co-chairs for the campaign are James Roolf, president of First Midwest Bank's Joliet Banking Center and a member of the Illinois Tollway board of directors, and Paul Gantzert with Gantzert Investment Co. and former Big Brother to two boys who are now successful adults.

“The future of these children starts today,” said Roolf. “We are asking for $1 million in this campaign. If every person in Will and Grundy counties gave just one dollar, we'd almost accomplish our goal.”

The $1 million will be used to purchase a new site and complete any renovations. It also includes a 10 percent endowment component.

State Senator A.J. Wilhelmi and Representative Jack McGuire were on hand to announce $20,000 and $50,000 grants, respectively, to start the campaign in the right direction.

The capital campaign committee members include Laird Ozman, Larry Walsh, Carroll Klotz, and Dr. Ernesto Tan.

Walsh, Will County executive, said the importance of the organization could not be denied.

“Research has shown that children matched with a Big Brother or Big Sister are 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, and 52 percent less likely to skip school,” Walsh noted.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said giving money to BBBS helps save money for taxpayers by providing role models to children who may otherwise turn to the street for examples and be lead to a life of crime.

“We are spending $67 million on a jail expansion,” said Glasgow. “If the money was spent here earlier, it may not be needed there.”

“They have an unbelievable record of success,” he added.

On hand at the campaign kickoff was Nick Sayers of Morris and his mother, Dana Agnich, who spoke about the benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters has brought to their family.

“It's nice to see him enjoy himself and come home happy after an outing,” said Agnich. “It's also benefited his education, since there is an agreement he had to get his grades up and keep them up in order to go on the outings.”

She said his grades have gone from D's and F's to mostly A's, with one C, at Saratoga School, where he is in fourth grade.

“He hasn't had a male role model other then his older sisters' husbands,” said Agnich. “They are now starting families of their own and have less time for him, so this has been great, giving him someone to look up to.”

Sayers said he has gone shopping and to the park with his Big Brother, Jay Johnson of Minooka, who was also on hand at the kickoff.

“He took me bowling once, too,” said Sayers. “I think it's pretty cool to have someone to look up to.”

Johnson, who is serving as a Big Brother and mentor for the first time, said it has been a great experience for him, as well as Sayers.

“It's awesome,” said Johnson. “I think I may be getting more out of it then he does.”