Big Day at the Lake XV is July 20, which means hundreds of children and youth from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Carolinas will come to Lake Norman for a full day of fun.

More than 100 Boat Hosts are needed to take the children—along with their mentors—out on the lake for a morning of fun, concluding with a picnic for 600-plus participants at Duke Energy Explorium.

The BBBS mentors or Bigs serve as built-in chaperones for the children, also known as Littles.

PHOTO BY STEVE NANCE

Any type of boat is welcome, but not jet skis for safety reasons.

Boat Hosts choose where to meet—a local marina, boat ramp, yacht club or a private home.

Boat Hosts can sign up at bigdayatthelake.com. There is also a variety of volunteer positions, ranging from greeters to grillers and food servers.

The day starts at 9 am at your dock, boat ramp, marina or a yacht club. Pair up with a friend or a group for even more fun. Big Day at the Lake has safe harbors organized as well as Boat Captains who can help with meeting up. Boat Hosts and the Big/Little matches can drive separately to the picnic, a fun event made possible by local food sponsors and volunteers.

The picnic is a private event for Bigs, Littles, Boat Hosts and their families.

Big Day at the Lake has three simple goals:

• Provide a full day of fun on Lake Norman for at-risk children in BBBS.

• Recruit Bigs or mentors for an effective organization with a single mission

• Raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters, which has high ratings for its management of funds

The financial goal this year is $150,000. As of press time, there were checks and pledges in excess of $145,000 for BBBS.

The Presenting Sponsors are Atrium Health, Champion Tire, Ckezepis Law Firm and Wells Fargo.