Best Buddies

Founded by Anthony Shriver in 1989, Best Buddies is a non-profit organization with chapters in high schools and colleges in all 50 states and over 50 countries. Its goal is to improve the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by creating substantial one-to-one friendship matches and providing integrative job opportunities. Best Buddies has six distinct programs: Citizens, College, High School, Middle School, Jobs, and e-Buddies. In the High School program, chapter officers coordinate events and schedule meetings for volunteer students who are paired up in a one-to-one match with a student with an intellectual disability. Additionally, officers organize on and off-campus activities ranging from carnival days and scavenger hunts, organizing bowling and basketball games, to teaching proper eating etiquette. Peer buddies attend every on-campus meeting and commit to calling their buddy at least once a week and meeting in person twice a month. Included is a one-year membership commitment that generates a lasting relationship with each buddy, a core component of the organization. Students who cannot make this commitment can stay involved as associate members. Chapter presidents attend the International Best Buddies Leadership Conference at Indiana University each summer, where they learn management skills and delegation responsibilities. Best Buddies allows students with intellectual disabilities to branch out beyond their classroom and establish meaningful, lifelong friendships with students they would normally not be able to interact with. Students in middle or high school can get involved by joining their school’s chapter or starting their own Best Buddies chapter.