Best Buddies: I See You!
Best Buddies is one of my favorite organizations. It strives to improve the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In 1987, while attending Georgetown University, Anthony Shriver decided he would like to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). He also had a desire to find a way for his classmates to do the same. He decided to take a pretty unique approach to this endeavor.
What do college kids do best? Well they are awesome at “hanging out”. What do many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities lack? Many lack social interactions with people who do not have IDD. In other words, they need people to “hang out” with. What if you could match individuals with and without IDD together? Perhaps both groups could benefit. Shriver did it… and both groups did in deed benefit.
Guy Fieri still seems like he likes to "hang out"
that's probably why he's a Best Buddies global ambassador
Before I continue, I want to help you scratch an itch that may be appearing in the back of your mind. Hmmm “Shriver”. Some of you may be thinking, “I wonder if he’s related to journalist, activist, author, and former wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver…. and isn’t she related to The Kennedys?”
Yes and yes.
Maria and Anthony Shriver are brother and sister. Their mother Eunice was John F Kennedy’s sister. With those connections and the associated wealth, Anthony could have done anything. He chose to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Best Buddies began with 52 matches between Georgetown students and residents of the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute. The goal was simple. Hang out and have fun. After his graduation from Georgetown in 1989, Shriver incorporated Best Buddies into a national non-profit organization.
Tom Brady is also a Global Ambassador for Best Buddies
What does Best Buddies do?
The Best Buddies program begins in middle schools and continues into adulthood.
Program Goals
Middle school – “to create an inclusive school climate for students early on in their educational development.”
High School – “helps break through social barriers at an important time in a young person’s life.”
College – “providing the opportunity for people with IDD to be involved in campus and community life.”
Citizens – “helps people with IDD become part of mainstream society and creates an inclusive and diverse community for all.”
E-buddies – “participants can develop the skills necessary to be able to communicate using a variety of sources.”
Those are the official goals. In my opinion the real goal... and the only one that truly matters is to make sure people with IDD get what every human being needs… appropriate social interactions with other human beings. They get to “belong”. They get to feel loved. They get to share their amazing gifts, talents, compassion, sense of humor, and love with others. They get to feel valuable… because they truly are. In other words they get to experience…
Friendship.
If you check out The Best Buddies website (you really should) you will find that “friendship” has its own tab. Friendship is at the core of this initiative. This friendship is not one sided. Both parties reap the rewards of the relationship.
All of the one-on-one relationships are formed between peers of the same general age. The pair commits to participate in activities that anyone their age would do. This helps the person with IDD to practice and develop appropriate social skills in authentic settings. Hopefully these skill will be transferred to other situations and the person with IDD can form even more peer relationships.
These positive interactions can help both friends increase their confidence and self esteem. I know nothing makes me feel better than helping to build someone up.
Constants of the Best Buddies’ Friendship Programs
- One-to-One Friendships
- The pairs communicate once per week
- Buddy pairs get together twice per month (They can participate in any age appropriate activity)
- The pairs commit to be being friends for at least one year
Too many people with IDD feel isolated from the world. Best Buddies is doing their part to fix this.
Thank you Best Buddies!!!!
I see you! I see that you have value! I see you are important!
If you’d like to learn more about Best Buddies, please visit their website https://bestbuddies.org/ .
Sources:
https://bestbuddies.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Shriver
Anybody that is skeptical in what the relationship will offer them in return needs to be aware of this: I am have a genius level IQ and several degrees;yet, my best friend is the lady next door who was born with Down syndrome. She is very intelligent and caring and teaches me stuff everyday. Does she understand life and our purpose as humans? That was a question someone asked me about her one time. Lividly, I replied yes more so than you probably ever could! She understands love and that's enough for me to offer her a place in my heart and within our world.
Exactly! You made my night.
"She understands love and that's enough for me to offer her a place in my heart and within our world." Well said!
Thank you. She makes my days a lot better when I need it the most.
I cannot believe that I have not heard of Best Buddies before today. Thank you so much for sharing this @hanshotfirst I will definitely be looking them up and seeing if there is a place to volunteer locally.
I love this so much!
You made might night @merej99 I bet you would be a delightful addition to this type of program!
Very happily surprised when I saw the best buddies logo on my feed!! I ride this every year , the 100 miler, our team has raised over $100k for the organization and and only getting bigger and stronger each year!! I plan to raise $5k this year prior to my ride and if any of you live in New England shoot me and message on Steemit Chat and get on board! Great post ! Re steemed!
That's awesome! 100 K total and 5K on your own... that's incredible. I live in Chicago but I will be involved in fundraising here. I won't get close to 5K... but every little bit helps. I love this program so much. It's so positive. Thank you for raising funds for it! I'm a special education teacher and I see first hand how much kids benefit from the program.
It's defiantly an awesome organization and seeing all the kids "buddies" having a blast is touching and always gets me to push harder the next year! Yes every bit helps , will you be riding over there? Tom Brady throws a great after party over here in mass ;) so of course I'd recommend riding here.
I tried to start a few fund raising posts here but they don't seem to take off , I may try it once again and see if it can get trending.
Well you have my vote! I'm not a rider... but I am avid supporter of people with disabilities!
good blog @hanshotifirst
this is the firs time i hear about this organization but i love the idea , beautiful , helping other help us grow spiritually and relive anxiety .
Great quote!
Thank you for sharing Brian!
And thank you for checking it out Adil!
Anytime! :)
This is really cool. Thanx for sharing. I have to show it to the wife too. She;d be all over this.
Cool. I hope both of you enjoy!
Yes, Yes! This is amazing! I would have been by earlier but I had so many tabs to read through.
I love this information....never new about Best Buddies. It hurts my heart when someone feels excluded. I see you....thanks for sharing this @hanshotfirst.
Thanks! It is really an awesome program. I work at a high school and I can honestly say the kids without IDD may actually benefit more. Once they get past the initial barrier, they find that kids with IDD have so much to give!
Oh yes, I agree. I worked in the school system and my husband was a high school teacher too.....and for sure this program would have been beneficial to kids without IDD.
That is very interesting. I had no idea of Maria Shriver's connection... Do you work with this program in any way in your teaching endeavors?
I do not run the program at my school but I have tons of kids in it and volunteer all the time. I also get invited to all of the events during the school day and try to make it to part of every one of them. Lots of smiling.
This is stunning, wow... I wish I had a program like this for us regular people.
I would love to get involved as well as understand how to relate, and share my life journey with the world, including these people.
As someone who grew up with friends who had disabilities, I have seen how cruel the world can be, but also how uplifting and understanding others can be.
Thank you for this wonderful post!
~ @Timbo
1 good person really can make up for the negative actions of many others.
Love, it beats hate, jealousy, and greed time and time and time again.
Thank you for the thought provoking post. It was much appreciated.
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