By James Rincon
Pflag Reporter

Nearly every week for the past four years, Ben De Leon of Austin and 11-year-old Anthony Saldana of Pflugerville have spent time hanging out like brothers. They toss the pigskin, catch Longhorn games, browse the bookstore and do other things that brothers might do. But De Leon and Saldana are not the ordinary pair, and late last month they experienced something that few brothers can boast.

De Leon and Saldana are not blood brothers. They are members of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America program.

De Leon was named National Big Brother of the Year for 2009, and on Jan. 20, he and Saldana flew to the nation’s capital where Anthony introduced President Obama during a National Mentoring Month address at the White House.

“I think the best word to describe it is surreal. I never imagined I’d get into Big Brothers, Big Sisters and my ‘little brother’ would be introducing the president,” De Leon said. “It was the ultimate proud moment for me, and it was a humbling moment for me. I was just really proud of the way that Anthony handled himself and introduced the president and I was proud of the fact that our match was recognized.”

De Leon and Saldana met the president and first lady before the address, and Anthony was given the opportunity to spend a few minutes one-on-one with President Obama.

“It was a weird feeling. If it was just him – if he wasn’t the president – if it was just some random guy, and I met him, I guess I’d just feel regular – but when I met the president, I wasn’t nervous at first, and when I shook his hand I got kind of nervous, and then when we went out to say my speech I got pretty nervous,” Saldana said.

Saldana and his two older sisters live with their grandparents Kathy and David Carrillo in Pflugerville. De Leon began meeting with Saldana through a church-mentoring program in Austin. When the Carrillos moved to Pflugerville Kathy Carrillo asked De Leon to continue working with Anthony through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program.

“Ben is the best thing that’s happened to his and our lives. It’s a blessing that we found him at the time we did. Anthony was having some struggles with school, but now that Ben’s in his life it’s wonderful. He’s not struggling anymore,” Kathy Carrillo said.

De Leon said the impact is mutual.

“At the end of [Saldana’s] second-grade year his grandmother wrote a letter to me asking me to be his Big Brother, and I still carry that letter in my briefcase every day,” De Leon said. “I think that the overall utility of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program is, I really think it’s the value that the mentors get out of it more than the mentees get out of it. I have a completely new perspective on my own relationships and just the way I treat people in general. Anthony holds me to a standard, Anthony looks up to me and Anthony wants me to set a good example for others … but I know at the heart of Big Brothers, Big Sisters is the affirmation that I give to Anthony.”

In less than 48 hours in Washington, D.C., De Leon and Saldana met and introduced President Obama, visited U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzales from San Antonio, met Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn, took a Capitol tour arranged by Sen. Cornyn’s office and got brief looks at the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial.

“I was pretty tired,” Saldana said.

De Leon said the experience was a proud moment in his life, and suspects Saldana will appreciate the magnitude of the opportunity more and more as he gets older.
“I take pride in the fact that [Saldana] is appreciative and understanding of the fact that he did get to introduce the president. It’s not lost on him, but I think it’s going to take quite a number of years for him to realize what a life changing experience he had at the age of 11,” De Leon said.

President Obama’s address at the event stressed the importance and the need for mentors in America, De Leon said, especially black and Hispanic male mentors.

“The majority of the kids on the waiting list are boys and they’re Hispanic or African-American. So the fact that the first African-American president recognized Big Brothers, Big Sisters and recognized our match is just huge. It’s monumental and it was a life-changing experience for both of us,” he said.