Operation Bigs
Mentoring the children of the brave men and women serving our country
San Diego County is one of the largest concentrations of active military in the world.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County partnered with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to create Operation Bigs, a first of its kind program, to serve this population more effectively.
Operation Bigs provides mentors to children of military families, including active duty, veteran and Gold Star families. Operation Bigs has served more than 3,000 Navy and Marine Corps children to date.
Operation Bigs supports families presented with challenges such as frequent relocation, school transitions, separation from extended family, increased responsibility coupled with a sense of loss when a parent deploys, as well as the physical and psychological stress faced when parents return from war.
Since the on-base launch at Camp Pendleton, the program has spread across San Diego to serve youth through both site-based and community mentoring programs and has been recognized as one of the most successful military mentoring programs in the country.
To date, Operation Bigs has inspired the expansion of over 30 Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates across the country.
“I have changed drastically as a person, both physically and mentally, in the most positive ways possible, with Tim playing a large part in that for many years of my childhood.”
– Little Brother Christofer
Former First Lady Michelle Obama came to visit our Operation Bigs program in 2010, and when she visited, we were honored by her remarks to the Camp Pendleton Community.
“A wonderful program that we were proud to help celebrate at the White House during National Mentoring Month — that was Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego and their ‘Operation Bigs,’ which provides mentors to so many great military kids here at Pendleton.”
This program is made possible in part by funding from the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which is dedicated to ensuring that our nation’s veterans, service members, and their families — those who stood for us — have stable and successful futures.
Military Advisory Committee 2024
Providing strategic direction and council for Operation Bigs
Major General Anthony Jackson, Ret., Committee Chair
Retired Commanding General of Marine Corps Installations West, Camp Pendleton
Lily Carlton
Senior Director of Programs, United Through Reading*; Marine Chaplin Spouse
Tim Chelling
Big Brother Operation Bigs, Retired US Air Force Public Affairs
Colonel Jim Gruny, Ret.
Community Liaison Officer, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego/Western Recruiting Region
Vanessa Hewitt
Enrollment & Matching Specialist, Operation Bigs, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County
Mary Kirby
Regional Program Director, N9/Fleet and Family Readiness Programs, Navy Region Southwest
Terri Mateo
Big Sister Alum, Lead Director Of Advancement, United Through Reading*
Kim Pham
Operation Bigs Coordinator, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County
Claudia Aldana Robles
Program Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County
Tina Rose
CEO and President, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County
Reginald Sims
Operation Bigs Parent, Veteran, US Army
Scott F. Smith
Retired Major General for USAF (United States Air Force)
*Operation Bigs Partner
Ready to Get Started?
Real Families. Real Impacts.
Thanks to the Jack in the Box Foundation, The May & Stanley Smith Foundation, The Farrell Family Foundation and so many other community supporters, the Operation Bigs program continues to grow. But in order to serve our community’s large number of military children, additional support is still needed.
If you want to support our military through a donation to the Operation Bigs program, please contact Talia Katzir, Director of Philanthropy, at TaliaK@SDBigs.org or (858) 536-4900 x205.