Allentown, PA \u2013 August 23, 2016<\/span> \u2014 Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley is excited to announce longtime Lehigh County District Attorney James \u201cJim\u201d Martin as its honorary chair for the agency\u2019s Fourth Annual John Walson Jr. Memorial Open golf tournament.<\/p>\n Martin has been the Lehigh County District Attorney since 1998, making him the longest serving DA in the County\u2019s history. He has over four decades of experience as a trial attorney, and has served as president of the\u00a0Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and\u00a0the\u00a0Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute.<\/p>\n He is a graduate of Allentown Central Catholic High School, and earned a BA from Mount Saint Mary\u2019s University in Maryland and a JD from Temple University School of Law.<\/p>\n As Honorary Chair, Martin will play an essential role in publicizing the Open.\u00a0 He looks forward to working with the John Walson, Jr. Memorial Open event committee and BBBSLV staff to make this the organization\u2019s most successful golf tournament to date.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to serve as the honorary chair for this year\u2019s John Walson, Jr. Memorial Open,\u201d Martin said. \u201cBig Brothers Big Sisters has always done a tremendous job of helping children in Lehigh County overcome major struggles in their lives, in some of the area\u2019s toughest neighborhoods. Better yet, their mentoring programs help children avoid the sorts of behaviors that could potentially make them a part of the juvenile justice system. I look forward to helping to raise awareness for such a worthy cause.\u201d<\/p>\n District Attorney Martin is not the only one honored by his position as Honorary Chair for the John Walson Jr. Memorial Open. Susan Bartels, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley, said she was extremely grateful to have him on board in this important role.<\/p>\n \u201cJim Martin has made the Lehigh Valley a better, safer place for our kids,\u201d Bartels said. \u201cWe\u2019re very fortunate to have such a dedicated advocate for our mentoring programs joining us as this year\u2019s Honorary Chair. Big Brothers Big Sisters looks forward to another terrific golf tournament this September with Jim\u2019s leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2015 John Walson, Jr. Memorial Open will be held on Monday, September 26<\/span> at Lehigh Country Club with a 10 a.m.<\/span> shotgun start. Bartels said she hopes the tournament will net at least $50,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley\u2019s one-to-one mentoring programs. Over 100 golfers are expected to attend this year\u2019s event. Those interested in registering can do so at www.biggolf.org.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n Contact: About Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Since 1970, Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. Big Brothers Big Sisters, the nation\u2019s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, holds itself accountable for children in its program to achieve measurable outcomes, such as educational success; avoidance of risky behaviors; and higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships. Partnering with parents\/guardians, schools, corporations and others in the community, Big Brothers Big Sisters carefully pairs children (\u201cLittles\u201d) with qualified, trained, and screened volunteers (\u201cBigs\u201d) and monitors and supports these one-to-one mentoring matches throughout their course.<\/p>\n In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley, a United Way Partner Agency, served 394 Lehigh and Northampton County children in one-to-one mentoring relationships.<\/p>\n Big Brothers Big Sisters provides children facing adversity, often those of single or low-income households or families where a parent is incarcerated or serving in the military, with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. This mission has been the cornerstone of the organization\u2019s 100-year history. The organization is engaged in a nationwide search to reunite with alumni mentors, mentees, donors, and family, staff and board members. Learn how you can volunteer or donate\u2014visit www.bbbslv.org<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Press Release Provided By: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Silvia Vargas, Director of Development & Marketing svargas@bbbslv.org 610-432-8000<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n
\nSilvia Vargas
\n<\/strong>Director of Development & Marketing
\nBig Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley<\/p>\n
\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"… Click here to read more... <\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[532,3843,3890,3889,2,648],"class_list":["post-19688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2","tag-big-brothers-big-sisters","tag-big-brothers-big-sisters-lehigh-valley","tag-golf-tournament","tag-john-walson-jr-memorial-open","tag-lehigh-valley","tag-northampton"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bbbslv-logo-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}