In the 1960s there were Big Brothers programs operating in Traverse City and Petoskey. In 1987, the Petoskey program was about to close but instead the two programs were incorporated into Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Michigan. In addition to Grand Traverse and Emmet counties, the agency added service to Leelanau County that year. Today Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Michigan serves children in the ten counties of Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, and Wexford as well as twenty schools throughout the region. Well over 1,500 children have benefited from its unique brand of mentoring in that time.