JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON —  The 176th Wing hosted Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska leadership during a March 13 wing tour at the wing’s JBER campus.

Alaska Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Anthony Stratton, 176th Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Shawn Arnzen, 176th Maintenance Group senior enlisted leader, spoke with BBBSAK CEO Jill Richardson and BBBSAK Anchorage community coordinator Caity Chandler about volunteer opportunities with BBBSAK while the guests learned about opportunities to serve in the Alaska Air National Guard.

Richardson said matching adult “bigs” with youthful “littles” provides benefits to the Alaska community.

“We match adult volunteers with youth in a one-on-one mentorship, and that mentorship helps support and guide the youth through their next stage of life,” she said. “Everybody needs a mentor in their life. We know that youth need at least three positive adults in their life to have the best possible outcomes.”

Richardson said she envisions what she called a healthy symbiosis between the two organizations. Members of 176th Wing are a natural fit to volunteer as bigs, while littles can gain exposure to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics dimension of service in a technologically advanced Alaska Air National Guard wing.

“We were very interested in figuring out how we may be able to partner with the Air National Guard to recruit volunteers, and we also wanted to expose our littles to the options they may have in their future,” she said.

Richardson said about 15 percent of BBBSAK bigs are military volunteers, and she would like to see even more Guard members volunteer.

For more information about volunteering with BBBSAK or requesting a big, visit www.bbbsak.org.

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