Countywide : A Boy’s Best Friend Is His Big Brother

Justin, 9, caught his first fish while camping last year, and James Sparks, 32, was there to see it.

The boy’s catch was made possible by Sparks, who set up the camping trip in the Sierra.

Sparks is Justin’s Big Brother--not by blood but by arrangement.

Sparks met Justin through the Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Orange County two years ago, when Sparks joined.

Both are from Irvine, both like outdoor sports and both have been getting along beautifully since they met.

“He’s my best friend,” said Justin, whose father left him just before he was born.

“The whole idea is for somebody to be there for Justin, someone to be a friend or a role model,” said Sparks, an engineer.

Sparks sees Justin, a third-grader at Vista Verde Elementary, once a week for three to six hours. Together, the two have gone ice skating, in-line skating, skiing and sledding. The idea isn’t to become a father figure but to provide a male relationship that Justin might otherwise miss out on.

Sparks, a former YMCA instructor, said he decided to join the program because he missed the children he once coached. This time around, though, he wanted to develop a one-on-one relationship instead of dealing with kids in groups.

Lisa Mergl, the public relations director for the Big Brother-Big Sister Program, said 100 boys are waiting for Big Brothers. She said the Big Sister program doesn’t have as much trouble finding matches.

For more information, call Mergl at (714) 544-7773 or show up at one of the orientation meetings, which take place at 7 p.m. every Thursday at the Big Brothers-Big Sisters office at 150 Yorba St., Tustin.