Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Halifax hopes to see more older adults — and Haligonians of all ages — get involved as mentors this year.

The organization received some funding from the federal government's New Horizons for Seniors Program.

It's a more than $60 million program that aims to fund projects that make a difference in the lives of seniors and their communities — and more than 3,000 projects across Canada have been funded.

Specifically, the program aims to promote volunteerism among older adults, engage seniors in the community through mentoring others, expand the awareness of elder abuse and support the social inclusion of seniors.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Halifax put some of its funding towards creating a promotional video that it hopes will attract more older adults to volunteering as mentors.

The video shows the story of a volunteer who's nervous about meeting their new mentee.

"You're sort of seeing the breadth and the depth there of a relationship as we're watching this new Big Brother embark on his own relationship," Sheila Cochrane, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Halifax's executive director, told NEWS 95.7's The Rick Howe Show.

In the video, the actors are actual Bigs and Littles — what the organization respectively calls its mentors and mentees — who've been a part of the organization.

"It was nice to be able to showcase them and tell the stories of why it's beneficial," she said.

Big Brothers Big Sisters has been in Canada for more than 100 years, and its Halifax chapter was created more than 50 years ago.

The organization helps families and youth by introducing a young person to a mentor — of any age — who helps develop the youth's full potential.

However, Cochrane said the organization has struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic due to not being able to hold events such as in-person fundraisers.

"The last year-and-a-half has been a struggle on a lot of fronts, the biggest being fundraising," she said. "When businesses are closed and people are not working, fundraising is one of the bigger challenges.

"That really impacts our ability to grow and do the work that we do."

In terms of actual volunteering, she said the organization moved some of its mentoring online and helped families in other ways during the pandemic.

"We've stuck it out and we've managed to keep kids connected," she said. "But it certainly hasn't been a typical year-and-a-half."

Since the Halifax chapter started, it's helped more than 7,400 young people living in the area.

People can learn more about volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Halifax by visiting the organization's website.