SC Big Brothers Big Sisters gets mentoring grant

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Big Brothers Big Sisters of greater Columbia is getting a $122,000 grant from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice to expand its program for mentoring children in military families.

Heidi Johnson is president and CEO of the local program. She says it will aid children of active duty and deployed military, as well as the children of military veterans.

Johnson says the expansion means about 1,000 new mentoring matches will be created.

She says the money is part of a $13 million grant from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Last year, the group paired 286 children in Richland and Lexington counties with screened volunteer mentors who provide ongoing guidance to the children.