Lunch Buddies

You can make a difference!

One caring adult, committed for the long haul, can change the trajectory of a child's life.
Especially when the child is facing significant obstacles. 
Lunch Buddies helps you do that.

Lunch Buddies is a one-on-one, in school mentoring program.
We help you safely mentor one child, eating lunch together once/week at their school. 

​Teachers love it!

Some of our biggest fans are classroom teachers. They love their students and wish they could spend more one-on-one time with each of them. It makes a difference!

Students come back from meeting with their mentors smiling and ready to learn. 

​We will train you!

​The Bridge recruits, screens and coaches caring adults to become effective mentors.

We are looking for mature, loving, Christian volunteers, male and female, who will commit to serving for one school year. Our mentors spend 30 minutes each week with one child who needs a friend. The Bridge staff trains our mentors to do four things: Show up, Listen, Love, and Pray.

"Every kid needs five adult fans,” writes Dr. Chap Clark, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. But many adults view adolescents as a problem, not as full of potential. So, young people feel abandoned. They are "desperate for an adult who cares.” Lunch Buddies is a simple way for a busy adult to become a fan of one child. ​

Show up, Listen, Love, and Pray.

  • "We partner with Lunch Buddies because we believe that when the love of Jesus is expressed in life-giving relationships, people are changed."

    Joe Hishmeh, lead pastor of Fellowship Bible Church

  • “Being a lunch buddy is all about investing in something you may never see the return on, this side of Heaven. Being a lunch buddy is about showing up, praying for a kid, and just listening to them. Something all of us wanted when we were little. Being a lunch buddy means for 30 minutes a week I get to play games, color, use my imagination in ways I haven’t since I was a kids - it’s about helping kids be kids, when many of them have to be grown up in other areas of their lives.”

    Niki Maloney, Lunch Buddy

  • "We partner with Lunch Buddies because Jesus cared about children, and we do too. Children need positive, encouraging role models and mentors who can show them the love of Christ in their life, and Lunch Buddies is a great opportunity where we can be just that."

    Tim Wilson, pastor of Lighthouse Bible Church

  • “Being a Lunch Buddy means that I hope I am doing what I can for the community. Sometimes it’s hard to feel that you are doing actual good work, but this is something tangible that I am doing, and I know it is what I am supposed to be doing.”

    Gary Greer, Lunch Buddy and pastor of BridgePointe Community Church

  • “There have been many people through the years that have come alongside to encourage and mentor me. Teachers, coaches, friends, and family. They have given me confidence in making wise decisions and have been with me in the joys and struggles. I wanted to give back to the kids what has been so generously given to me.”

    Rebeka Boydston, Lunch Buddy