Marilyn came to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward in January 2005 with a desire to find a male role model for her nine-year-old son, Lorenzo.  His father hadn’t been part of his life growing up, so she knew he needed someone to do “boy stuff” with him.  At that time, Lorenzo was dealing with some anger outbursts.  His mother felt having a Big Brother to talk to and reinforce positive behavior could keep him get on a track for success.

In August of 2005, Lorenzo met George at a Big Brothers Big Sisters’ picnic.  It was the start of their Big and Little relationship that would stand the test of time.  The next nine years of their lives were spent attending Big Brothers Big Sisters events, enjoying outings in the community and supporting one another as they hit milestones in their lives.

Lorenzo graduated from high school this past May and although his match will officially “close”, it is apparent from his mother’s words below that George will always be Lorenzo’s Big Brother.  George also credits Marilyn for Lorenzo’s success as a young adult.  He considers her to be an exceptional mother.  As a team they were able to guide a young boy to a bright future through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

 

A letter from Lorenzo’s Mother:

This experience was a very valuable and positive one for both Lorenzo and myself.  As a single mother, I wanted to provide my only child, my son Lorenzo, access to a positive male influence that he would be able to bond with, relate to, be a role model, and have freedoms with that a male needs from another male.

Lorenzo’s meeting George at a BBBS picnic, and then going to Nancy and asking her if George was un-matched, if the two of them could be matched–and he not knowing that that was her plan all along, to match the two of them!–let us all know right from the start that this was going to work well!  It WAS a match!

I know that Lorenzo will continue to stay in touch with George throughout the years and Lorenzo hopes to someday be in the position to give back to the program and be a Big Brother himself because he has seen the positive influence that it has made in his life and he would like to ‘pay it forward’ and do it for someone else.

Thank you for your time, all of your efforts, and for helping all of those children that benefit from this very important program.  Don’t give up, because it does a lot of good to a lot of children that need it.

It has been a pleasure.

Sincerely,
Marilyn

Lorenzo plans to attend FAU as one of the first recipients of the Bank United Legacy Scholarship Fund, which helps Big Brothers Big Sisters teens like Lorenzo who have “aged out” of our program gain access to higher education opportunities. He’s looking forward to applying for the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in the near future. We wish him the best of luck in his journey!