Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters (KSBBBS) is a statewide youth-mentoring organization headquartered in Wichita that serves children facing adversity by providing them with a caring adult mentor. The mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that can change their life for the better, forever. KSBBBS operates offices across Kansas in Hays, Manhattan, Wichita, Newton, Hutchinson, Winfield, Lawrence, Topeka, Pittsburg, and Emporia. Nearly 1,000 youth in Kansas are currently waiting for a Big. Former board chair Bill Hanna was instrumental in evolving Wichita BBBS into Kansas BBBS, which was at one point the second largest BBBS agency in the nation. A 2013 Summer Soiree honoring Hanna raised over $1.8 million including a $100,000 Cargill contribution. 12 News (KWCH Wichita) partners with Kansas BBBS throughout July for a fundraising campaign where donors can win $25,000. Featured matches include assistant principal Myron and Little Brother Janarious and matches Kat and Ana.
Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters serves children facing adversity by providing them with a caring adult mentor in professionally supported one-to-one relationships. Mentors are carefully-screened adult volunteers who commit to being matched with a child in a one-to-one relationship for a minimum of a year. The organization offers both community-based and school-based match options, as well as individual, couple, and family match formats.
The statewide reach, with offices in Hays, Manhattan, Wichita, Newton, Hutchinson, Winfield, Lawrence, Topeka, Pittsburg, and Emporia, allows Kansas BBBS to serve communities across the full geographic range of Kansas. Each number on the waitlist (nearly 1,000 youth currently waiting for a Big) represents a life of a child in need of positive impact, as former board chair Jody Horner articulated.
Former board chair Bill Hanna was instrumental in evolving Wichita Big Brothers Big Sisters into Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters, which at one point became the second largest BBBS agency in the nation. Hanna contributed to BBBS in all aspects, from volunteering as a Big Brother to promoting to others the importance of taking action for the future of youth. The 2013 Summer Soiree fundraiser was held in his honor, reflecting his central role in building KSBBBS to its current scale.
According to Kansas Action for Children data from around 2013, childhood poverty in Kansas had increased from 14.5 percent in 2008 to 18.8 percent in 2011, reflecting one of the highest increases in the country during that timeframe. Against that backdrop of rising need, KSBBBS under Hanna's board leadership grew to serve 6,000 Kansas children with 4,000 remaining on the waiting list and raised $1.8 million at the Summer Soiree to fund an aggressive plan to provide a mentor for every Kansas child in need.
Cargill has been a long-standing major corporate partner of Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters. At the 2013 Summer Soiree, Cargill contributed $100,000 of the $1.8 million total raised. At the time, over 50 Wichita-based Cargill employees were mentors in the KSBBBS program. Jody Horner, President of Cargill Meat Solutions and Kansas BBBS board chair, said: "Each number represents a life of a child that is in desperate need of positive impact, and that is what drives us to passionately pursue our mission."
The Cargill partnership reflects the broader corporate engagement infrastructure in Wichita's meat processing and agricultural industry ecosystem. Cargill's Wichita operations employ thousands of workers, providing a large pool of potential Bigs and corporate philanthropic capacity.
12 News (KWCH TV in Wichita) partners with Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters throughout the month of July for a fundraising and awareness campaign. The partnership features Big and Little match stories throughout the month and offers donors the chance to win $25,000 or one of several other prizes by donating. The campaign has run for multiple years as one of KSBBBS's largest public fundraising and awareness efforts.
The match stories featured in recent campaigns illustrate the diversity of KSBBBS mentoring relationships. Assistant principal Myron and his 12-year-old Little Brother Janarious go to the old school arcade downtown and out to eat together. Myron brings his daily experience seeing the need for mentors as an assistant principal: "I'm just repeating the cycle of my own childhood." Kat and Ana share a love of spending time together in the kitchen through baking, gardening, and even grocery shopping.
Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters operates offices in ten Kansas communities, serving the surrounding areas of each location. The Hays office serves Ellis County in western Kansas. The Manhattan office serves Riley, Geary, and Pottawatomie counties in northeast Kansas (Manhattan is home to Kansas State University). The Wichita office serves Sedgwick County (Wichita is the state's largest city). Newton serves Harvey County. Hutchinson serves Reno County. Winfield serves Cowley and Sumner counties. Lawrence serves Douglas, Franklin, and Leavenworth counties (Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas). Topeka serves the Shawnee County state capital area. Pittsburg and Emporia offices serve their surrounding communities in southeast and east-central Kansas.
The 10-office statewide structure reflects KSBBBS's commitment to reaching Kansas youth across the full geographic range of the state rather than concentrating operations only in Wichita. The university town presence (Manhattan/KSU and Lawrence/KU) provides access to student volunteer recruitment pipelines that strengthen Big supply in those communities.
KSBBBS offers both community-based and school-based mentoring programs. Community-based matches pair adults with youth for activities of their choosing outside structured program settings; the match frequency and activities are determined by the Big and Little together. School-based matches pair employee volunteers with students at a partner school for mentoring during school hours, removing the scheduling and transportation barriers that prevent some adults from participating in community-based programs.
In addition to individual matches, KSBBBS offers couple and family match formats, allowing two adults or a whole family to mentor a single youth. The couple and family formats reflect the KSBBBS model of meeting volunteers where they are in their life stage rather than requiring single-adult availability for mentoring participation.
To become a Big in Kansas, visit kansasbigs.org to start the volunteer application process. KSBBBS offers volunteer opportunities for caring adult mentors to be matched with youth in community-based or school-based matches as an individual, couple, or family match. Mentors are carefully-screened adult volunteers who commit to being matched with a child in a one-to-one relationship for a minimum of a year. Nearly 1,000 youth in Kansas are currently waiting for a Big.
Donations can be made at kansasbigs.org. KSBBBS is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations are tax-deductible. The July 12 News campaign offers donors the chance to win $25,000 or other prizes, making July the high-visibility public fundraising month. Corporate partnerships with Cargill and other Wichita-area and statewide employers provide sustained annual revenue. Foundation grants and individual giving make up the remainder. The Summer Soiree format (raising $1.8M in 2013) provides the major annual gala-style fundraising vehicle.
For pure scale of youth-serving nonprofit infrastructure in Kansas, Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Kansas City and Boys and Girls Clubs of Wichita reach more children through after-school programming. For one-to-one structured mentoring specifically, KSBBBS is the largest single agency in Kansas with a statewide 10-office network. Bill Hanna's evolution of Wichita BBBS into Kansas BBBS and the organization's historic second-largest-BBBS-in-nation positioning reflect the operational ambition that distinguishes KSBBBS from many same-state peer nonprofits.
Last updated May 2026. Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters statewide organization headquartered Wichita Kansas 310 E 2nd Wichita KS 67202, offices in Hays (Ellis County), Manhattan (Riley Geary Pottawatomie counties), Wichita (Sedgwick County), Newton (Harvey County), Hutchinson (Reno County), Winfield (Cowley and Sumner counties), Lawrence (Douglas Franklin Leavenworth counties), Topeka, Pittsburg, Emporia serving surrounding areas, community-based and school-based matches as individual couple or family, minimum one year commitment, nearly 1,000 youth waiting for a Big, from the Idealist Kansas BBBS Wichita profiles. Former board chair Bill Hanna evolving Wichita BBBS into Kansas BBBS becoming second largest BBBS agency in the nation, 2013 Summer Soiree honoring Hanna raising $1.8 million total with Cargill $100,000 contribution, 6,000 Kansas children served with 4,000 on waiting list at that time, Jody Horner (Cargill Meat Solutions President and Kansas BBBS board chair) quote about each number representing a life of a child in desperate need of positive impact, Kansas Action for Children data on childhood poverty rising from 14.5% 2008 to 18.8% 2011, plan to provide mentor for every Kansas child in need, from the EINPresswire July 2013 Cargill press release. 12 News (KWCH TV Wichita) partnership throughout July with $25,000 prize campaign for donors, Big Brother Myron (assistant principal seeing mentor need daily, repeating cycle of own childhood) and Little Brother Janarious (12 years old, old school arcade downtown, going out to eat), Kat and Ana match (baking gardening grocery shopping), from the KWCH.com Big Brothers Big Sisters community section 2024-2025 articles. We are not affiliated with Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
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