Jonathan Martinez, 8, wants nothing more than to have a buddy he can play basketball with. Since losing his brother last year, Jonathan has been lonely, said his grandmother, Bella Lucero.

"I want Jonathan to have a mentor because he really does need someone he can do things with, like going to the park and playing ball," Lucero said. "He lost his brother and I think that having a big brother, or even a big sister, would make a big difference in his life."

Jonathan is one of more than 100 little boys waiting to be paired with a Big Brother through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico. He is one of the reasons the organization is launching its "100 Men in 100 Days" campaign to recruit 100 male volunteers to become mentors.

"My grandma talked me into it," Jonathan said, about the reason behind him signing up for Big Brothers Big Sisters. "She said that (a Big Brother) could do stuff like take me bowling. I can do stuff with them and have a friend to do all kinds of stuff — play basketball or go bowling."

"Jonathan doesn't really have anyone but myself, my husband and his mother (Charlotte Tapia)," Lucero said. "I think he misses the company of a big brother or a big sister."

According to Bernadette Garcia, the Big Brothers Big Sisters community coordinator for Santa Fe, the volunteer rate is about seven women for each man, which is why there is such an excess of little brothers.

"We have more than 100 little boys on our waiting list and our goal is to get them all matched by the end of the summer," Garcia said.

"What typically happens is we get two or three times as many women volunteers as we do men and three to four times as many boys referred," said Andrea Maril, the chief executive officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico.

"We do cross-gender matching, but there are times when a boy just flat-out needs a man to learn how to navigate today's society from a man's point of view," Maril added. "It can be a very challenging time for boys to grow up right now, so if we don't get more men to say, 'The heck with it, I'll give this a try,' then there are a lot of boys whose lives are likely to go in a different direction."

Yuri Findlay, a volunteer for the organization, said he recommends more men get involved to become "a role model, a male influence and a mentor so boys have someone close to them who is not a family member who can help them make good decisions."

Findlay has been with the program for two years and has been with the same Little Brother both years. His "little" just graduated from sixth grade, but Findlay plans to remain his mentor. Together, the pair have gone camping, played golf, played tennis and had several meals out together.

"I think boys need someone significant in their lives while they're growing up," Findlay said. "They're in their formative years and they need someone who could provide a positive role model, someone they can learn from by example, then hopefully they can become a Big Brother and give back to the community when it's their turn."

Findlay said that men tend to want to do something drastic to change the world, but he hopes that men in the community could see how volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters might do just that.

"You never know what type of influence you can have on one person who could make that change happen," Findlay said.

There are two programs that need volunteers: the community-based program and the school-based program. Each requires a one-year commitment. In the school-based program, volunteers spend an hour a week with their little at their "little's" school. The community-based program is for those who want to meet their little outside of school to play basketball, go out to eat or spend time at a park. The community-based program requires that matches meet their littles two or three hours a week.

"A lot of times, the friendship and the relationship continues from the school-based program to the community-based program," Garcia said.

Even though it is targeting men with this campaign, Big Brothers Big Sisters welcomes female volunteers.

"We're still always looking for women," Garcia said. "We're doing this huge campaign just because of the need, but it doesn't mean we don't need women volunteers."

Jonathan his hoping he will be matched soon.

"Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a Big Brother," he said.

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.

WANT TO BECOME A BIG BROTHER?

Call 983-8360 or visit www.bbbsnorthernnm.org. Volunteers are needed in Santa Fe, San Miguel, Los Alamos, Rio Arriba and Taos counties. A hot-dog lunch will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., June 17 at City Hall.