WS Chronicle

Every year, two volunteers out of more than 5,000 volunteers are chosen to represent the state of North Carolina at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America national conference, as its top two mentors. This year, Jason Wilmoth and Beverly Williford, both from Winston-Salem, were chosen as Big Brother and Big Sister of the Year. 

“We are so proud of these two volunteers and their Littles,” says Shawan Gabriel, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Services, Inc. “These mentoring relationships have been truly life-changing.” 

Big Brother of the Year Jason and his Little Brother Malik have been matched for nearly 10 years, and in that time, Jason has been intentional about creating learning experiences for Malik. Jason says, “Our match has been incredibly fruitful for both of us. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him grow up and mature as he encounters many of the same youth benchmarks as I did and strives to do more.” With Jason’s guidance, Malik is now a high school senior, making good grades and dunking basketballs (over Jason). 

Big Sister Beverly and Little Sister Lorri have been matched for 11 years. Beverly states, “During the course of our years together, Lorri and I shared many first-time experiences with each other. I believe that part of the key to children achieving their full potential is having exposure to places and people and things that are outside the norm.” Lorri says that “Mrs. Beverly is special to me because she has always been in my corner from the day we met at Speas Elementary.” 

The Bigs of the Year award process begins with local Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates selecting a top Big Brother and Big Sister and nominating those winners for their statewide competition. Statewide winners then move on to the national competition, in which a selection committee of Big Brothers Big Sisters staff, corporate partners, foundations, and supporters, including the reigning Big Brother and Big Sister of the Year, rank each statewide winner. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters Services, Inc. has won top honors in National Big of the Year, most recently in 2018 with Big Brother Murray Miller and Little Brother Jolen, and in 1999 with Big Sister of the Year going to local news anchor Wanda Starke and Little Sister Courtney.