FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- Michael Price

-- Story by Danette Goulet; photo by Taya Kashuba.

Once he got a taste of what it was like to help children in need,

28-year-old Michael Price kept craving that feeling.

When Price was in school at Arizona State University, the

administration stressed the importance of students performing community

service. So he went out and volunteered his time at a child crisis

center.

“I’d volunteer my time to play with the kids, talk to them and in some

cases comfort them if they had just been dropped off the night before by

their dad who beat them, or because their family had no food and couldn’t

take care of them for a while,” he said.

It was that experience that led him to volunteer for the Big Brother

Big Sisters program when he settled in Newport Beach a little more than a

year ago.

Now the consulting manager of DigiTerra, an e-business systems

integration company in Costa Mesa, Price gladly takes time out of his

busy schedule to volunteer.

Since they met in April of 1999, Price and his little brother,

9-year-old Tyler from Huntington Beach, have made a tremendous

connection.

The two get together every other weekend for four to six hours and

just act like guys together.

“He can talk to me about how cool his skateboard is and I can relate,”

Price said.

They ride bikes in Central Park in Huntington Beach, go in-line

skating on the boardwalks in Newport Beach and visit the tide pools at

Corona del Mar.

They even take part in the great American pastime -- they play catch.

“It’s just a rewarding experience. I know his mom appreciates it,”

Price said. “One of the best feel-good moments I’ve had was about a month

ago. I was dropping him off. I had never met his grandparents, but they

knew all about me from him. That felt pretty good.”

Price said he loves to be the male role model in young Tyler’s life

and hopes to continue to be a big brother to the boy.

Besides, as Tyler grows out of the Pokemon stage of his life, Price

said things are already getting easier.