Fostering friendship: Big Brother mentorship spans most of youth’s childhood

Jerome Pinckney knows what it’s like not to have a father. His dad, Edward, was absent a lot, taking off and just disappearing. Pinckney was effectively raised by his grandfather, Moses Davis, in Connecticut.

“For the longest time, I thought he was my father,” Pinckney, 70, said. “I called him ‘Grampa,’ but I was so young, I didn’t realize the difference.”

By the time he was about 12, Pinckney’s mother was able to bring the family back together, and they found a home in New Jersey. But those early years left an impression on him.

Pinckney, who lives north of Summerlin, has been a volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada for 11 years. He learned of the group while playing in a golf tournament that benefited the organization. He signed up, went through a background vetting process and was matched as a Big Brother with a 7-year-old, Zane Boykin, whose father had died when Zane was 4.

Pinckney had been married twice, but neither union resulted in children. Suddenly, he said, he felt like an instant parent.

“The best part about it was I didn’t have to change diapers,” he joked.

At Big Brothers Big Sisters, there are 350 more children waiting to be matched. January was National Mentoring Month and helped bring awareness for the importance of mentoring at-risk youths, with Jan. 21 designated as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada Day by Mayor Carolyn Goodman and the Las Vegas City Council. But the need is year-round.

When Pinckney went to the initial meeting with Zane and his mother, he said he was “more nervous than anything. I’d never had a kid of my own, and now I was responsible for a 7-year-old.”

Boykin, now 18, recalled his mother driving him to meet Pinckney for the first time.

“I was a little anxious, but I was looking forward to meeting him,” Boykin said. “I was expecting a real young dude, then I saw Jerome, and I went, ‘Oh, he’s an old man. He’s not going to be any fun.’ ”

But each Saturday, Pinckney took him to places he’d never been — a museum to see dinosaurs, hiking at Red Rock Canyon, going horseback riding, up to Mount Charleston and to the movies. Shark Reef made an especially memorable impression on the young boy. Pinckney also would invite Boykin’s younger brother and sister, Noah, now 15, and Mya, now 13, to join them. Boykin’s mother, Teri, said they consider Pinckney “part of the family.”

Boykin said it took a couple of years to appreciate the role Pinckney played in his life, especially as a mentor because, “He’d tell me about his own life as a way to teach me (things). He helped me a lot, and I began looking at things differently.”

As he grew older, Boykin, a senior at West Career and Technical Academy, 11945 W. Charleston Blvd., got into sports. His Saturdays became filled with practices — baseball, flag football and basketball. Pinckney cheered from the sidelines.

“I tried to make it to every game he had,” Pinckney said.

Their outings switched to sports — seeing the Las Vegas 51s play baseball at Cashman Field and going to UNLV basketball games and hockey games.

To further his commitment, Pinckney became a board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada. Instead of sports, he now counsels Boykin on what to expect in college. Another change that came with technology is that he and Boykin text one another to keep in touch.

“He’s really a good kid, always has been,” Pinckney said. “He knows we can talk about anything.”

Pinckney said Boykin helps keep him young and brings a new perspective to topics.

What would he tell someone about being part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters program?

“It’s the best thing in the world,” Pinckney said. “You’re learning from someone, showing them the way to go. They’re coming from a hard life, and you’re showing them that nothing is that bad.”

For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada, 2000 E. Flamingo Road, visit bbbsn.org or call 702-731-2227.

Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.