Pair Connect as Special Sisters

Fidgeting in a booth at Chuck E. Cheese’s in Sun Valley, Yvonne attacked her pizza when it arrived with the determination of someone eager to finish as quickly as possible.

Like most 9-year-olds, Yvonne does not need much coaxing to spend an afternoon at the popular pizza parlor. But she was even more eager to bring her Big Sister, Ryoko Matsui.

“I want to get enough tickets to win my mom a prize for her birthday,” Yvonne said, clutching a clear plastic bag brimming with green-and-red tickets.

The shy fourth-grader, who attends Fernangeles Elementary School in Sun Valley, is an expert at the games Rubble Bubble, Walking Gator, Skeeball and Jungle Picnic. Good thing, too, because she will have to more than double her winnings to acquire the dancing dolphins she has selected for her mom.

“Yvonne’s very caring,” said Matsui, who has increased the frequency of their usual bimonthly restaurant visits to help her Little Sister meet her prize goal. “We once went to a retirement home and she helped make Valentine ornaments with a man who was very incapacitated. She showed a lot of compassion for someone so young.”

The same could be said of Matsui, a 29-year-old Valley Village resident who joined the Big Sisters organization two years ago after putting together an after-school program for a Syracuse, N.Y., family services center.

The Big Sisters of Los Angeles, which pairs female mentors with at-risk girls ages 6 to 16, has offered educational and recreational activities to carefully matched partners for more than 19 years.

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“Ryoko is such a great Big Sister,” said Stacey Selco, the organization’s case manager for the San Fernando Valley. “She’s dependable and devoted and has been very patient with Yvonne, who’s shy. She gave her the time to open up, and they now have a very strong relationship.”

While Matsui said the main goal for her relationship with Yvonne is to encourage her to do well in school and pursue a college education, the volunteer clearly relishes her role as a friend and mentor who organizes bike rides, beach trips and slumber parties.

“I’m still fairly new here in L.A., so when we do these activities, it’s often the first time for both of us,” Matsui said. “I like seeing the city from her young perspective.”

Matsui, a Pennsylvania native, is used to exploring new cities. The Syracuse University graduate said she and her family moved 20 times before she settled down for four years of college. Her father, a chemical engineer, wanted his daughter to pursue an engineering career, but her interests lay in marketing and retailing.

Currently employed as a purchaser for a San Fernando clothing manufacturer, Matsui spends her lunch hours observing local elementary-school classrooms, part of her teacher training program at National University in Sherman Oaks. She is working toward an elementary teaching credential.

Back at the restaurant, Yvonne and Matsui washed down the last of their pizza with gulps of soda. Yvonne--unable to wait another minute--headed for the game area.

“The Big Sisters enriches Yvonne’s life and mine by allowing us to have another friend to relate to,” Matsui said. “It’s easy to take family members for granted, but with us, it feels special to be together.”

Yvonne agreed. “The best thing about having Ryoko in my life is that she helps me with schoolwork and takes me to fun places. I love her.”