LEWISTON – The Child Health Center’s Big Brothers Big Sisters Program announces that Sarah Pelletier, a Big Sister in the Lewiston school-based mentoring program, has been named Mentor of the Month.

Pelletier is the daughter of Diane and Richard Pelletier of Lewiston and is a senior at Lewiston High School. She has been in the Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based program for three years and has visited with her Little Brother at Farwell Elementary School and at Lewiston Middle School.

“I know that I make a difference in my little brother’s life, and I feel a great deal of respect from him, his family and the schools where I have mentored,” Pelletier said.

Spending at least one hour a week with her Little Brother, she helps him with homework, plays outdoor sports and supports him in his personal interests.

“I want my Little Brother to gain knowledge to make proper choices as he gets older,” she said. “I think he has gained a lot of knowledge through our time together, and I know he can achieve his own dreams with hard work and determination.”

It is Pelletier’s hope that her Little Brother will always remember their time together fondly and that he will realize the opportunity the program has given them.

“The Big Brothers Big Sisters Program gave me the opportunity, as a high school student, to be a mentor to my Little Brother while he was in elementary and middle school. I was able to interact with him, his peers and to see how he works in the classroom,” she said. “I hope that he can reflect back on this program one day and realize that this was a great experience for both of us.”

Pelletier feels that her involvement in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program gave her the chance to be a role model and to give back to her community. “I definitely feel that Big Brothers Big Sisters gave me the experience to give back to the community that I live in. I was able to see what it is like for younger students, and it has also shown me what it would be like to have a younger sibling, an experience I never would have had if I did not go through this program,” she said.

Pelletier is planning to go to college next year to study medicine. She would like to be a pediatrician or an emergency room nurse. She is working as a certified nurse’s aide at Bolster Heights in Auburn.

The Child Health Center’s Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentoring Program offers community and school-based mentoring programs that match elementary and middle school children with adults or high school students.

Anyone interested in becoming a mentor should call the Child Health Center at 782-5437 and ask for Big Brothers Big Sisters or send an e-mail to ron.hood@childhealthcenter.org.

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