'Source of inspiration': Big Brothers Big Sisters dedicates building to longtime supporter

Say the name Hartsfield in Tallahassee, and people of several generations will smile and give thumbs up. The Hartsfield family, dating back to when three brothers arrived here in the 1800s, have contributed to the dynamic of our city in dozens of ways.

Among the more recent Hartsfields known to the community are: Bert Hartsfield who was the Property Appraiser; Paul Hartsfield, who was Clerk of the County Court; and Frank Hartsfield, Leon County School Superintendent.

And though it is unlikely that most prominent families would have even one member for whom a building is named, now, in addition to the Frank Hartsfield Elementary School, there is another Hartsfield to whom an entire building is dedicated.

On Aug. 6, 2023, standing on the steps of the elegant, columned structure owned by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Bend, 67-year-old Brent Hartsfield accepted the honor of seeing the new “Brent Hartsfield Building” become official. Flanking him were two particular men he knew well: Delaitre Hollinger and Jeffery Godwin. These are two now-grown men whom Hartsfield met as preteens, but who have matured and prospered — and never forgotten the mentorship of Brent Hartsfield.

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'A calling for service'

Hartsfield, now retired, worked as an environmental engineer for many years, cleaning up pollution and trying to make our living spaces cleaner.

But 35 years ago, unmarried and without children of his own, but enjoying the time spent with nieces and nephews and the children of friends, he decided to explore the volunteer experience of mentoring a “Little Brother” at the now 50-year-old BBBS on Tennessee Street.

Little did he know the mutually meaningful relationships that would develop. “Though I’d personally been going through a rough time, as a Big Brother, I found a calling for service to kids that I believe changed all of us for the better.”

After careful background checks, data base examination, and parental approval, “The first boy I mentored was Jeff Godwin,” says Hartsfield. Most all of the young people in the program, children 5-18, are initially seen as facing some kind of adversity.

“Our belief is that it is inherent in every child to have the ability to succeed and thrive in life.” Hartsfield feels that the relationships developed between carefully selected adult role models and the young people they are paired with have the potential to change lives for the better. Today, Godwin says that he “thinks about Hartsfield often.”

Matching with 'Littles'

Another “Little” who was paired with Hartsfield’s “Big,” is Delaitre Hollinger. The commitment to mentor a youth is at least for one year and it may take place either in a school environment or in the community, where each “Big” agrees to meet with their young mentee for four hours per month.

A new Sports Buddy program has a shorter initial commitment, but often leads to a more long-lasting mentoring relationship.

Hartsfield says that he remembers wonderful times taking his second “Little,” Delaitre Hollinger, to the Capitol, to parks, and over the six years that Hartsfield served as the young man’s Big Brother, seeing the youth go from “shy and bashful, fighting, cutting school, and nearly failing his courses,” to a confident young man who ran for City Commission at age 18, has been on the BBBS Board of Directors, and now at 30, is the Co-Executive Director of the Florida Civil Rights Museum.

Hollinger says, “Brent has been a constant source of inspiration and a consistent supporter. For me, he was the greatest Big Brother anyone could have.”

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'Big Brother of the Year'

Currently, Hartsfield, who still is a Big Brother, doesn’t limit his personal outreach to life. He does Zumba at a gym; loves Latin dance; is a member of Toastmasters; teaches Sunday School at Tallahassee’s First Baptist Church; and has sat for nearly a decade on the BBBS Board of Directors.

Perhaps one of his greatest thrills, however, was meeting, along with Delaitre Hollinger, with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office when Hartsfield was named “2012 National Big Brother of the Year.”

Molly Lord, CEO of BBBS says that Hartsfield has been an exceptional youth advocate over three decades, and that his recent 2023 “financial gift to the organization — the largest we have ever received — will help many, many.”

Brent Hartsfield looks at the current BBBS waiting list of “138 kids,” and urges others to consider becoming a Big Brother or a Big Sister.

“There is a real thing called a “helper’s high,” he says, “or a “giver’s glow.” Helping others is good for your health, your mood — and acts like an anti-anxiety pill.” Not only does this kind of mentorship benefit a child who needs a stable adult in their life, but, “It gives a purpose to your own existence” — and maybe friendships for a lifetime too.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Big Brothers Big Sisters dedicates building to Brent Hartsfield