Group names its top ‘Bigs’

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:38AM

JOLIET — Lenard Denham of Bolingbrook and Sarah Peterson of Morris were honored Jan. 26 as the “Bigs” of the Year for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

Denham, an executive with the Kellogg Co., and his “Little,” Jarvis, now 13 of Bolingbrook, have been quite the pair since they were matched in January 2009 in his school’s Lunch Buddy program. Denham helped Jarvis, then a fourth-grader, with reading and writing, two of the subjects in which he was struggling.

“The first time we met, I instantly saw the connection with him and Jarvis and felt confident that he was the right match for him,” said Jarvis’ mother, Chiquita Crutcher.

Peterson, events director for the Grundy Chamber of Commerce, and her “Little,” Hailey, now 12, also were matched in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Lunch Buddies program at Hailey’s school in Morris. In 2008, Hailey began the school year with the loss of her grandfather and ended it by having to move from her hometown.

Since she was out of the Lunch Buddies program, she and Peterson decided to continue their friendship in the community-based mentoring program.