A nationally renowned youth mentoring group is bringing a new location — and dozens of jobs — to Ansonia.
Big Brothers Big Sisters, a nonprofit that has been matching children with adult mentors for more than a century, will open a 3,200-square-foot donation site and call center in a building at 7 Clifton Ave., on the corner of Clifton Avenue and Division Street.
The space was most recently home to a medical supplies business.
Ken Kuntz, an Ansonia resident and operations manager for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Southwestern Connecticut Foundation, said he drove by the site a few months ago and noticed it was available for lease.
“The Valley’s always been a great area for us, very supportive, for pickups (of donated items),” Kuntz said Wednesday (July 23). “I thought it would be nice if we had an attended donation site here.”
The building will eventually house more than 40 employees when a call center to arrange donations for the foundation is moved to the Ansonia site from North Haven.
The transition is tentatively scheduled for September, with a grand opening celebration in October.
In the weeks ahead workers will be doing IT work to move the group’s servers to the new location, as well as renovate the interior of the building and put signage up.
But those interested in donating items can either drop them off in the bins in the building’s parking lot or call 877 – 399-2570 to schedule a pickup.
The foundation partners with Savers Thrift Stores, who sells the donated items and gives a portion of the profits back to the foundation.
“This is a good part of our revenue stream that helps provide funds for the programs we have with kids,” Kuntz said.
Even without any campaigning or advertising, Kuntz said the Valley is already stepping up in terms of generosity.
About 10 people per day have been stopping by to make donations, and the donation bins in the building’s parking lot are filling up quickly as well.
“I’m blown away by what we’re getting,” Kuntz said standing before a mound of clothing, furniture, books, and other items collected in the past two weeks alone. “Donations have been very strong. People have been exceptionally generous. We’re really, really impressed with the amount of people coming through already.
Click here for more information on the items the group is looking for, and how you can help.
And people interested in mentoring a child can find more information by clicking here.
An adult being willing to “become a big” to a child mentor makes an invaluable contribution to a child’s life, Kuntz said.
“We have a long list of kids that are waiting for mentors to be matched,” he said. “You want to help all of the kids that come through, but you just don’t have the adults coming forward.
“Some people are afraid to make the commitment,” Kuntz went on. “But once they make it, they’re happy and they’re glad they did it, and a lot of the relationships last well into adulthood.”
