PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Jim Martz and Dr. Andrew Hope are going down memory lane to when they first met.
"I signed up with the Big Brothers program. You have to wait six months and be a resident here. And they connected me with Andrew who was nine years old at the time," Martz said.
That was 50 years ago.
Jim, a sports writer, started his journey mentoring Andrew.
"I grew up without a father, so Jim became my father figure and the male image in my life. We went to the Olympics in 1976, I remember that. We've done a lot of things, camping at Fort Wilderness," Hope said.
Jim was there when Andrew graduated, got married, and when Andrew became a chiropractor.
Tuesday afternoon, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Palm Beach and Martin counties celebrated 50 years of their friendship.
For the organization, mentoring a young life is priceless in any generation.
"It just gives us all the feeling that when the mentor and the little come together in the beginning and they're not really sure getting to know each other that it can end in something as great as this. And just true friendship and I don't see it ending any time soon," said Yvette Flores-Acevedo, the organization's CEO
"I think it's really important that this organization stays strong to help kids," said Hope.
"I agree 100%, I think that mentoring is so important," Martz said.