Big Brother Joe & Little Brother Donte
Meet Big Brother Joe and Little Brother Donte who have been matched for 7 years now!
Big Brother Joe and Little Brother Donte first met in October 2017 through the Community-Based mentoring program and have been matched ever since.
Brotherhood Beginnings
Before they officially met, this match was taking shape through their shared decision to join Big Brothers Big Sisters. For Donte’s mom, Tahnea, this was a decision that started after Donte’s dad moved. He was a good kid, just in need of another adult supporter in his life. Tahnea worked at Big Brothers Big Sisters at the time and saw how beneficial the program had been for her daughter, and decided it was time to sign Donte up too. For Donte, the motivation to get a Big Brother was to have someone to talk to and to take him places. Since he already knew about the program from his mom and sister, he was very excited to finally get a Big Brother.
Meanwhile, Joe decided to become a Big Brother after seeing his friends join and feeling inspired to contribute to his community, even though he didn’t know much about the program.
“I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I just wanted to do something,” said Joe.
Little did he know, this leap of faith would give him a good friend in the “smooth,” “stand-up,” and “entertaining” Donte.
“Oh, I knew we were going to have fun together. We were gonna do a lot of cool things,” said Joe. “Later down the road is when it was like, man, I’m making a friend.”
“I can talk to Joe anytime I want. I can have him come get me. We can go out to eat or do something, and I just have somebody now,” said Donte on how their relationship has grown. Donte soon became good friends with Joe—whom he describes as “cool” and “buff.”
Growing Up, Together
Now, whether it’s bike riding around town, visiting Joe’s job, or eating at their favorite spot BurgerFi, the friendly Donte and Joe always have a good time together. Joe also tries to attend Donte’s football games whenever he can.
“Every time I come to one of his football games, he ends up being the all-star of the game. Making crazy catches and scores and maybe he does that every time I don’t know,” said Joe.
Donte enjoys when Joe comes to his games and cheers him on from the bleachers, saying, “If I have a game and I do good or bad, he lets me know: ‘You’re good as long as you keep trying.’ Yeah, he’s there for me even if we lose or not.”
Although Donte wasn’t thrilled at first, he now also appreciates Joe taking him to his roofing warehouse and showing him the ropes there, saying, “He taught me how to work hard like with his shop, I didn’t want to do nothing, but now we’re going to build stuff.”
Tahnea is grateful for this aspect of their mentorship as well, believing it is a good influence on her son.
“It’s making him want to work more and have money, and it just sparked his interest. So, I think it’s good that they started at a young age. They’re both kind of seeing each other grow up, so that’s cool,” said Tahnea. “He got to work with him and actually go do some jobs with him, just expanding his horizon on like different things.”
She also says that it is nice to have another adult, especially a male, to consult about things going on with Donte and get a second opinion. Having an outside person to communicate with to make sure Donte is on the right path and ask about how to approach situations has been helpful as a parent. Joe has also supported Tahnea by picking up Donte from practice if she couldn’t.
“I can call Joe and say, ‘Hey, I need you to talk to Donte,’” said Tahnea. “He’ll text him, or he’ll come pick him up. He just has my back on certain situations.”
Donte isn’t the only one learning new things in their mentorship. Joe believes having a Little Brother has made him more aware of how he acts, adding a new level of responsibility to his life.
“He really made me understand how important is to be a good role model to anyone,” said Joe, “and made me realize how important it is to show kids a good way to be. So, he made me want to be better.”
Spine-tingling Tales and Other Adventures
After 6 and a half years as Big and Little Brother, Joe and Donte now have many tales to tell about their adventures and shenanigans, including some spooky ones.
One spooky story of theirs started when Joe took his Little Brother to the Haunted Jail, for which the young Donte was not prepared.
“I don’t like haunted stuff, and we walked in and it’s just a bunch of clowns and everything, just people popping out,” said Donte, “and I ended up punching somebody because they just popped out.”
“Yeah, we got in there, and we didn’t make it very far,” Joe added.
However, Donte says he’s up for a redo: “Cause I hate that kind of stuff, but now we can do it again because I get stuff now.”
But that’s not the only scary story they have:
“One time, I had Donte and his older sister, and we’re walking in these woods, and I was like, ‘Oh my god! You hear that?’ And they were like, ‘no,’’’ started Joe.
“Then we took three more steps, and a deer ran like six feet in front of us—this huge deer—and we all took off running and screaming.”
However, Tahnea’s favorite memory of this match was right here at one of Big Brothers Big Sister’s fundraising events. Joe and Donte had been invited to participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Fashion Show, and neither were too excited. However, they took the challenge. Together, they got to go to Kohl’s and shop for the event.
“It was the first time for him to dress up completely in a suit and tie and everything,” said Tahnea. When this pair walked down the runway, they looked cool doing it, donning some shades.
This Family’s Future
Now Donte is going into 8th grade, and he’s already preparing for high school and football. He admits that he will be busier than before with school and football practice. Donte’s high school path and the things he wants to apply to are more prominent topics in their conversations nowadays, too. However, he still wants to make time to see his Big Brother. No matter what, they consider each other family.
“You start knowing the people. I know his mom now and, like I said, when I first started I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but down the road, it becomes a lot more than you think it will,” said Joe. “I think we’ll be old friends and become family friends. I know DJ’s family members. Now he’s met my parents, my brothers and sisters.”
When asked what his favorite memory was, Donte said, “Meeting his mom and dad. They’re basically my grandma and grandpa.”
These two have truly taken on the role of brothers and have become a part of each other’s families, ready to take on whatever challenges life throws their way. Tahnea—who calls Joe her “other son”—puts it this way:
“Oh, we’re stuck together forever. Pretty much we’re together forever, so they did a good job matching him. And we are a family, so it’s more than just a match. We’re a family.”
Joe had one last thing to share with his Little: “DJ, I love you man!”
Learn How YOU Can Make an Impact
Mentorships create a lasting impact through the little things, like just showing up for a child’s football game… or going to (and quickly leaving) a haunted house together.
By becoming a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, you have the chance to expand your support group and even find family. Mentorship positively affects not only the Big and the Little but also parents! Take it from Donte and Joe:
“You get more than you give,” said Joe. “Do it. Just do it!”
“It’s just a good program for people to meet new people in the world,” said Donte.
Wanting to make a difference? Learn more about volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters here.
Wanting to take the next step? Start the application process here.
