tepsport

All over the place. They have them as young as 6 and as old as mid teens. I told them I was comfortable with 10-13 (I had been a camp counselor for that age group, so had a feel for what it would entail) and they matched me with a 9 year old who was about to turn 10. You can ask for older.

Yes. You should still consider it. A lot of times, the kids just need someone to listen to them. To explain things to them that a father figure isn't around to do. And fun is relative: my little likes popcorn and movies, so streaming an action flick and getting some snacks and hanging out together was a great respite for him from home. Other times we'd do something simple like minigolf or batting cages. Doesn't have to be anything overly planned out and doesn't have to be overly expensive. Just being there is the important part.

Now, that said, you are quiet. You should also anticipate the kid being quiet at first. You're a random grownup, most likely from another race (BBBS has a large number of white Bigs and very few white littles, so just percentage wise, you are likely to be different races) and that's confusing for a kid. It took my little about 6 months to really start talking to me. He hasn't shut up since. :)

Not to hijack the OP, but I figure he can't get to all of them: I started out doing 3-4 hours every other Saturday. Over time, it morphed into more b/c I really enjoyed spending time with him. But if you can give a few hours every other weekend (or 2 weekends a month, doesn't have to be every other), then it's worth doing. Plus, you'll be surprised at how much it'll mean to him when you bring him home a t-shirt or something like that from one of your travels.

Not for a while. The purpose of the program early on is one-on-one mentorship. After a while you could include your kids, but then you risk a whole psychological issue if he's around for a while and then you decide to part with the program.

I live in LA so traffic can be a nightmare here too. After my interview process, background check, etc., they pulled out about 6 files of kids who were next in line for a Big. They were all over the city. Two were close and one was into similar things that I was. They scheduled the in person meeting and his mom and I saw very eye to eye and that was it.

TL:DR: You have distance and preference options as a Big.