Big Brothers Big Sisters Awards Gregory R. Page Highest National Honor

DALLAS, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Gregory R. Page, chairman and chief executive officer of Cargill, Incorporated, has received Big Brothers Big Sisters of America's 2011 Charles G. Berwind Lifetime Achievement Award, the national mentoring network's most esteemed volunteer service honor.  Page accepted his award today at the Big Brothers Big Sisters national conference in Dallas, Texas.

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Page's relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters spans more than 20 years and brings a rich history of generous personal and corporate philanthropic leadership.  He joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America board of directors in February 2005.  He served as chair of its governance and audit committees and began a two-year term as board chair in 2008.  Prior to that, Page served as chair of the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities. Page has also been a Big Brother to two Little Brothers through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities.  

"Greg Page demonstrates incredible commitment, both personal and corporate, to the core mission of our organization; to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported mentoring relationships that change the lives of children for the better, forever," said Karen J. Mathis, president and chief executive officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.  "His intelligence, strategic thinking and continued leadership have proven vital to our success as the nation's premier mentoring organization."

Big Brothers Big Sisters holds itself accountable for and is able to measure specific youth outcomes – educational achievement, avoidance of risky behaviors, and higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships. The organization relies on funding to carefully make more mentoring matches and provide ongoing assistance for mentors, mentees and families to help sustain the long-term successful relationships unique to its programs.

Page has also supported the development of a new custom-built database of Big Brothers Big Sisters constituents.  The technology allows the national organization and its nearly 370 local affiliates to gain a holistic view of an individual's involvement with the mentoring network, regardless of geography or type of participation.  The technology will facilitate ongoing conversations with constituents with the goal of increasing their engagement to enhance the volunteer and donor-supported network's service to children who face adversity.

A committee of Page's peers selected him to be the recipient of the Berwind Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding volunteer leaders who have devoted substantial time and energy over the course of their lives to the cause of youth mentoring through Big Brothers Big Sisters.  The organization created the award in 1990 in honor of Charles Graham Berwind, a founding father of Big Brothers of America.   Berwind dedicated more than 40 years of his life to the organization, leading the national network for its first 23 years.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters' mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.

Partnering with parents/guardians, schools, corporations and others in the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters carefully pairs children ("Littles") with screened volunteer mentors ("Bigs") and monitors and supports them in one-to-one mentoring matches throughout their course. The organization holds itself accountable for children in the program to achieve measurable outcomes, such as higher aspirations; greater confidence and better relationships; educational success; and avoidance of delinquency and other risky behaviors. Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated. Headquartered in Philadelphia with a network of about 370 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves nearly 250,000 children. Learn how you can positively impact a child's life, donate or volunteer at BigBrothersBigSisters.org.

SOURCE Big Brothers Big Sisters of America