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Thank you to our sponsors:

 
Countdown to Kickoff: An Evening with Coach Eliah Drinkwitz, presented by Columbia Safety & Supply, is held in partnership with the University of Missouri Football Program

 

Due to COVID-19 and the uncertainty associated with city and county ordinances - we have decided to move Countdown to Kickoff to the virtual space on Thursday, August 27th from 7:00pm-8:00pm. We will be broadcasting our virtual event via YouTube Premium with a link sent to all participants 48 hours prior to the event. Our online auction will start Monday, August 24th at 11:00am and will end on Thursday, August 27th at 8:00pm. 

The evening includes stories and perspectives from our Bigs & Littles on mentoring during the pandemic and why it's more important than ever to engage in mentorship programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters, a word from Ann Merrifield, our new Executive Director, the presentation of our Big of the Year award and several premium auction items. The event will close with KOMU's Sports Director, Ben Arnet, interviewing Mizzou's new head football coach, Eli Drinkwitz, in a Q&A style interview.  Purchase of a general admission ticket entitles you to $10 off Hoss's Market and admission to the virtual event at 7:00pm on Thursday, August 27th.

Please visit the Tickets & Sponsorships Tab to purchase tickets to Countdown to Kickoff.

If you have any questions, please contact Drew Bennett at Drew@bigsofcentralmo.org or (573) 874-3677 x 210.

Can't attend but still want to join the auction?

Go to https://c2k2020.ggo.bid/ -> Click 'Start Bidding' in the right hand corner -> Create a login -> Enter your information -> Start Bidding!

 
Countdown to Kickoff: An Evening with Coach Eliah Drinkwitz
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Virtual Event - YouTube Premium

Online Auction Begins - Monday, August 24th at 10:00am

Virtual Event Begins - Thursday, August 27th at 7:00pm

Online Auction Ends - Thursday, August 27th at 8:00pm

Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Columbia Safety & Supply, benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Missouri.

By supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Missouri, you are helping children facing adverse experiences gain the skills and support systems necessary to become healthy, successful adults.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Missouri serves children of single parent families, children with an incarcerated parent, children of active and fallen military, children in long-term foster care, and those who are referred to us by school or other agency personnel. We serve almost 400 children each year in our community, school, and site based mentoring programs.

We partner with parents/guardians, volunteers, and others in the community and hold ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving:

  • Higher aspirations, greater confidence, and better relationships
  • Avoidance of risky behaviors
  • Educational success

Locally and nationally, we know that the Big Brothers Big Sisters method of mentoring works in the short and long term:

Short Term- Looking at the impact Big Brothers Big Sisters has in our local community:

  • In the past six years, none of our Littles have been referred to juvenile authorities for crimes, resulting in a minimum savings to our community of $536,000.
  • Among our Littles over the past six years, there has been a 0% school dropout rate compared to Boone County's rate of 2%, Audrain County's rate of 2.5%, and Randolph County's rate of 2.4%.
  • According to BBBSCMO surveys, 100% of Littles are "mostly sure" or "very sure" that they will finish high school compared to 91% who said that when they started the program. 
  • 91% of Littles are "mostly sure" or "very sure" they will go to college.
  • 95% of Littles selected "sort of true" or "very true" to the statement, “I do very well at my classwork."

Long Term - Harris Interactive surveyed adults who had a Big Brother or Big Sisters as a youth and compared them to adults from similar demographics that didn't have a mentor and found that Little Alumni were:

  • More likely to have a college degree
  • More likely to make more money
  • More likely to be involved as a volunteer in their community.
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