Event Information « Gentleman's Charity Dinner – In support of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Okanagan

The Gentlemen’s Charity Dinner is a gentlemen’s only event that brings together over 175 of the region’s top businessmen and professionals for an amazing evening. For over 30 years this event has generated significant funding for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Okanagan, supporting our many mentoring programs.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters Movement

Our purpose is to help children reach their potential and become self-sufficient members of society through professionally supported, one-to-one and group mentoring programs that have a measurable impact on youth. All Big Brothers Big Sisters programs are preventative in nature and seek to provide communities with a cost-effective way to serve children and youth before serious problems cause intervention costs to skyrocket.
In the Okanagan Big Brother Big Sister programs started over 40 years ago in direct response to community needs. The benefits over the years continue to grow with the additional stress to families and demands on youth. We have identified that as of 2010 there are approximately 15,000 children in need of mentors in the Okanagan and the number continues to grow.

Why do we need funding?

While people think of Big Brothers Big Sisters as a volunteer organization, it’s also a non-profit charity that depends on donations to support programming. Funding is used for recruiting, careful matching, background checks, screening and maintaining ongoing professional support for the volunteers, youth and their families – the key to ensuring long term positive outcomes that change lives and communities.