New program to help kids of deployed military needs volunteers

The Kunkel kids won’t get to play ball or swim with their dad, Henry, until next summer. The Fort Carson medic left for Afghanistan a month ago.

But Tyler, 13, and Nathanael, 9, are hoping to do those activities and more with someone they’ve not yet met.

The Pikes Peak branch of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado is using a $40,000 grant from Texan gas and oil magnate T. Boone Pickens, plus $40,000 it raised between December and May, to start a new program: Operation Mentor, geared specifically to children whose parents are deployed.

But they need volunteers to mentor about 17 kids, including the Kunkel boys.

“I’m trying to find ways to help my boys cope with the fact that their dad is gone for a year. Keeping them busy takes their mind off it,” said Sherri Kunkel, whose family moved to Fort Carson from Texas last August.

“We’re excited — we don’t really know what to expect, but I hope the boys get to try new things and have a male role model to look up to.”
Summer typically is slow when it comes to getting volunteers, said Meg Bunka, program manager, and this year is no exception.

At least 30 kids are waiting for matches, including those in the new program. The local branch also runs a program for low-income children of single parents, another for about 100 children who have incarcerated parents and one in which 165 Air Force Academy cadets co-mentor children.

Bunka said the organization expects to serve about 415 children through all its programs this year — about 100 fewer than last year as donations have declined because of the poor economy.

Operation Mentor volunteers don’t need military experience, Bunka said, but they must attend monthly group gatherings and schedule one-on-one time with their little brothers or sisters two to four times a month.

To volunteer, call Bunka at 359-9849.