Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana

Founded 8 February 1972 — from Big Brothers of Greater Fort Wayne

Founding: Big Brothers of Greater Fort Wayne was founded on 8 February 1972 — the date the agency's own 50th-anniversary history carries; a 2006 Congressional Record tribute gives August 1972, and the two dates are carried here side by side, the agency's own the primary. The mover was Don A. Wolf, president of Hardware Wholesalers Inc. (HWI, now Do it Best), who mobilized the business community behind the agency, was elected the inaugural president of its board, and recruited Frank Zirille as the first executive director. In the first year, 27 young boys were mentored. Wolf's founding is also recorded in the Wealth section's account of his life; this entry is the agency's.

Growth: The first caseworker was hired in 1973, and an outreach office for DeKalb, Noble and Steuben counties followed in 1974 as demand outgrew the city. In 1975 a grant from the Fort Wayne Foundation expanded the office, and Big Sisters was founded with the help of the United Way — the agency adopting the combined name Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Fort Wayne. In 1977 Wolf, serving as national president of Big Brothers of America, merged that body with Big Sisters International to form Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America; the Fort Wayne agency was admitted as a full member in 1978, the same year Dan Coats was elected its fourth board president and offices opened for Adams, Wells, Huntington and Whitley counties with Lilly Endowment assistance.

The institution builds: The agency became a member agency of the United Way of Allen County in 1981, the year of its first Bowl For Kids' Sake — the bowling fundraiser that became its signature (a 2021 agency release dates the event's start to 1980 as the annual kickoff fundraiser; the agency's own timeline carries the first Bowl in 1981, and both are noted). A local television station began the "Wednesday's Child" series in 1983, featuring unmatched children. A peak year in 1986 created 638 matches; that year the agency bought its longtime home at 2439 Fairfield Avenue, moving in after renovation in 1987, and in 1988 it made its 2,000th match and started the First Friends interim-mentoring program. Zirille left in 1994 after 22 years (the agency's anniversary biography says he served 23 years) to head the metropolitan Chicago agency; Jan Wilhelm succeeded him, then Gregory Falk in 1997, and Josette Rider — interim in October 2000, named executive director in February 2001 — has led the agency for a quarter-century since.

The regional agency: In 1996 the name became Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana, matching a service territory that had outgrown the city; county offices were consolidated in a financially difficult year, Kosciusko excepted. Milestones of scale followed: over 1,000 children served in a single year for the first time in 2005; the dissolved Michiana agency's territory — LaGrange and Steuben in Indiana, Branch and St. Joseph in Michigan — added in 2006, taking the agency to twelve counties in two states covering 5,095 square miles (a thirteenth, Hillsdale County, Michigan, followed in 2007); and in June 2006 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America named it National Agency of the Year among more than 440 agencies, the honor the Congressional Record marked that September. A record 1,803 children were served in 2009; in its 40th year, 2012, the agency served 1,972 children "in honor of our beginning in 1972." In 2013 it moved from Fairfield Avenue to 1005 West Rudisill Boulevard. Wolf was honored on his 90th birthday in June 2019 with the Big DONation campaign, which raised over 220,000 dollars; he died that September, aged 90.

Scale today: Federal-filing summaries chart the match count rising from 849 in 2004 to 1,182 in 2023, with 57 employees at the end of 2023 and assets of about 11.3 million dollars. The waiting list is the agency's constant second figure: recent coverage counts 300 or more children waiting, against 900-plus youth in active matches in one recent program report. Bowl For Kids' Sake remains the largest fundraiser, raising over 270,000 dollars in its March 2026 edition against a 250,000-dollar annual goal. The 20th Brad Miller gala, auction and golf outing in 2023 passed 1 million dollars raised for the first time.

Sources:

1. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana, "Our History" (bbbsnei.org) — the year-by-year timeline used throughout this entry: 1972 founding, 1975 Big Sisters, 1977 national merger, 1978 full membership, 1981 United Way membership and first Bowl For Kids' Sake, 1986 Fairfield purchase, 1996 renaming, 2006 territory and Agency of the Year, 2013 Rudisill move, 2019 Wolf honors, 2023 match and gala figures.
2. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana, 50th-anniversary announcement (14 January 2022) — "founded on February 8, 1972"; Don Wolf; Frank Zirille; the 12-county, two-state territory and 5,095 square miles.
3. Congressional Record, 8 September 2006 — the agency "established in August 1972," the divergent founding date noted in the entry; National 2006 Agency of the Year.
4. Business People magazine — Wolf as BBBS founder and first president of Big Brothers of Greater Fort Wayne; Zirille's 23 years; CEO Josette Rider's 25 years.
5. IRS Form 990 summaries (Intellispect) — matches 849 (2004) to 1,182 (2023); 57 employees, December 2023.
6. Waynedale News, 14 April 2026 — the March 2026 Bowl For Kids' Sake, over 270,000 dollars raised, 300-plus waiting.