Katie Brandt

Friends Program mentor

By Pamme Boutselis
NH Mirror Contributor

When it comes to friendship, Katie Brandt can tell you that age makes no difference. She should know. Since April 2005, one of the 27-year-old woman’s best friends is a 10-year-old named Ashley.

Katie Brandt, left, and Ashley show off their decorated cupcakes. Courtesy Photo

The two met through the Friends Program, a non-profit, social service organization that strengthens communities by building relationships that empower people, encourage community service and restore faith in the human spirit.

“I heard about the Friends Program at the 2005 Belknap County Convocation on Children and Families,” Brandt said. “I was interested in mentoring. I love spending time with kids and was relatively new to New Hampshire. I thought it would be a great way to get to know my community and give back in some way.”

Brandt, who lives in Center Barnstead, and Ashley met weekly for the first year and a half, and now get together every other week. Brandt picks Ashley up at school and they spend an afternoon together. They go out for pizza, to the movies, take in shows at the Capitol Center in Concord, attend Quarry Dog games and have even taken yoga classes together. Sometimes the friends just hang out at Brandt’s house and do arts and crafts or a bit of cooking.

“Last Saturday, we were carving pumpkins and eating ice cream at Beech Hill Farm with other matches,” Brandt said. The two love to get together for the group activities that the Friends Program offers.

As the Family Support Outcomes Director for the New Hampshire Children’s Trust Fund, Brandt works with community-based programs around the state and has high praise for the Friends Program.

“It’s very supportive, and I love that the focus of the program is simply on friendship,” she said. “I know that Ashley would agree with me when I say that this is a wonderful program that has brought a lot of joy to our lives.”

The Friends Program currently has 104 children waiting to be matched with a Senior Friend. To learn more, call 228-1193 or e-mail jsf@friendsprogram.org.

What movie could you watch over and over again?

“Love Actually.” It is a movie with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley and others. It is based in Britain around Christmastime, and it is a story about many different kinds of love. No matter how many times I watch it, I always laugh and cry.

What is included in a perfect night for you?

My husband and I love cooking and having friends and family over for dinner. Any evening where I can relax at home and enjoy good food, wine and company is a perfect night for me.

When it comes to gifts, what do you like to receive?

Since my husband and I are expecting our first baby in April, lately I am interested in anything related to babies. I just haven’t found out yet if I should be asking for onesies and binkies in pink or in blue.