The Big Brother Big Sister movement began over ninety years ago when a Big Sister service was started by the Sisters of Charity in 1902, and in 1903 when a Cincinnati businessman ( Irving Westheimer) befriended a boy he discovered rummaging in a trash can in an alley outside of his office. At the time, he was unaware that he had hit upon an idea that would eventually grow into an international movement and help generations of young people in their growing years. At the same time, quite independently, a clerk of the court in New York City convinced a mens' church group to brefriend 'fatherless' boys who had appeared in court. Those friendships worked so well that none of that original group of boys ever appeared in court again!