Big and Little Brother from Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Ukraine Visit Brookline

Newton-based Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters (JBBBS) hosted a Big and Little Brother from the sister city of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, who visited for Hanukkah. Above from left, Big Brother Maxim Kasiyanov (22) and Little Brother Nikita Lazarev (12) speak at the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters 94th Anniversary Brunch in Brookline about their life and experiences in the Ukraine. Nikita was born with special needs and adopted at the age of 3.5 to a Jewish family in Dnepropetrovsk and Maxim provides 1:1 mentoring to him through the The Starshi Brat/Sharshaya Sistra Program in the Ukraine, in which they are both deeply involved. The program was launched to provide a framework for volunteerism in the country, which was previously nonexistent.