Big Brothers Big Sisters Deutschland became an official affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters International at the end of July, 2009.

The organization, which has been providing mentoring services to children in Germany since 2007, became the 12th affiliate of BBBSI outside of the US, where BBBS mentoring was founded.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Deutschland (BBBSD) has already served 120 children through five different agencies, located in Mannheim (serving children in Mannheim, Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen and Speyer), Frankfurt, Essen, Muelheim, Hamburg, and Stuttgart.

According to BBBSD’s CEO, Dr. Claudia Langen, nearly half the children being served come from single-parent families, and about 50% of the families served are immigrants to Germany. The volunteer base is mainly made up of young professionals and students.

BBBSD has secured sustainable financial support from German foundations and corporations.  In addition, there is a lot of public support for the program in the form of awards and celebrity endorsements.  Both German national soccer trainer Joachim Löw and German Olympic Gold Medalist in fencing Britta Heidemann highly recognize BBBSD.