History

Our Roots

The Big Brother movement came into existence in America on December 3, 1903 and conceived by Irvine Westheimer, and ten years later it was introduced to Canada.

On April 23rd 1964 Big Brothers of Welland County was formed, and obtained provisional membership with Big Brothers of America. As no national body was yet formed in Canada, membership with the United Way in 1965 provided funding for the organization, and remains the single largest source of funding for the agency.

The organization grew rapidly and within two years began to service the Peace Bridge area, and remained servicing the area for nineteen years. The agency has gone through three name changes in its history, reflecting organizational changes with our local United Way, as well as the consolidation of Big Brother Big Sister programing on January 1st, 2004.

Thanks to the vision of a group of citizens in the early 1960s, dedicated staff then and now, and the many caring volunteers over the years, the program has provided meaningful mentoring service to boys and girls.