LANSING, Mich — As part of ePIFanyNow and FOX 47 News’ “Week of Kindness” initiative, neighborhood reporters are highlighting local nonprofits working to make a difference across the community. On Tuesday morning, volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Michigan Capital Region gathered at Ranney Park for a community clean-up aimed at creating a safer and more welcoming space for local families.
- Volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Michigan Capital Region participated in a park cleanup at Ranney Park as part of FOX 47 News’ “Week of Kindness” initiative.
- Executive Director Megyn Forest said kindness can take many forms, from mentoring and listening to helping improve community spaces.
- Volunteer Annabelle Adams, a former “Little” in the program, said her positive childhood experience inspired her to give back through mentorship and service.
- Organizers say maintaining welcoming public spaces supports the organization’s mission of building strong mentor relationships and creating positive community connections.
WATCH: From mentorship to service: Big Brothers Big Sisters give back during Week of Kindness
The effort brought together mentors, staff members, and volunteers who spent the morning picking up trash and improving the park, a place many “Bigs” and “Littles” regularly visit together.
“Kindness can look like so many things,” said Megyn Forest, executive director and CEO of the Michigan Capital Region chapter. “Just being there for others, whether it’s painting a mural, just listening, having a conversation or even picking up trash.”
Forest explained that the organization handles the behind-the-scenes work of matching mentors with children, including enrollment and background checks, so mentors can focus on building meaningful relationships.
“We do all of the backend work of matching, enrollment, background checks,” Forest said. “So once it comes to the mentor and the child matching, they just have to hang out and enjoy their time, which is great.”
Her passion for mentorship comes from personal experience. Before becoming executive director, Forest served as a mentor herself through the organization’s Kalamazoo program.
“I was actually a mentor in the program long ago in Kalamazoo’s program,” she said.
That same sense of connection inspired volunteer Annabelle Adams, who once participated in the program as a child.
“I look back really fondly on those memories,” Adams said. “I remember my mentor from then and the things I learned, so it felt right to come back to where I got my roots.”
Organizers say values like empathy, compassion, and kindness are central to the Big Brothers Big Sisters mission and events like the park cleanup help reinforce those lessons while making a visible impact on the community.
“Even though cleaning up the park may seem like something small, hopefully other people see that and it inspires them,” Adams said.
Forest added that spaces like Ranney Park are important gathering places for mentors and children throughout the year.
“A lot of Bigs and Littles spend time playing basketball, going to parks,” she said. “Our Bigs and Littles hang out in spaces just like Ranney Park, and we want that to be comfortable and inviting for them as well.”
With several summer programs and activities planned, volunteers say the freshly cleaned park will help provide a welcoming environment for the entire community in the months ahead.
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