BBNY Friendship Walk 2010 - New York City

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Thank you for your involvement!

Enter Donation Amount Here: *Currency shown: US Dollar $

My Fundraising Goal:
$2,500.00

Money Raised to Date:
$2,280.00

My buddy Lora and me in 2002

For the past 9 years, I’ve been involved in Best Buddies, which is a non-profit organization started in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver. It was founded with the mission of remedying the fact that we live in a society in which people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are still socially marginalized because they seem “different”. It aims to accomplish this mission in two main ways: 1) To foster one-on-one friendships between volunteers and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; and 2) To provide employment and leadership opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

For 4 years in college, I had a “buddy” named Lora, who had down syndrome. Through our friendship, I got to see firsthand how Best Buddies can make a difference. Lora’s family didn’t live in the state, so even though she had a job as a chair-maker (which Best Buddies arranged for her), she didn’t have that many social opportunities to look forward to. For that reason, our frequent phone calls and bi-weekly hang-out sessions provided a greater sense of consistency and social integration in her life. But in addition to that, by participating in Best Buddies, I also gained a greater understanding of intellectual and developmental disabilities. By having Lora spend time with me and my friends, we all learned that there wasn’t actually anything “different” about people with down syndrome, and certainly nothing that warranted the prolonged stares that the “buddies” sometimes got when walking down the street.

Anyway, to get to the point, I now serve on the board of Best Buddies NY, and we’re planning our first-ever Best Buddies NY Friendship Walk, which is taking place in April. The point of the walk is twofold: 1) To raise awareness about Best Buddies and its mission; and 2) To raise money (we’re aiming for $30,000) to support Best Buddies NY’s programs.

I’m trying to raise $1,500 for the walk, so I would tremendously appreciate any donations that you’re willing to make (it’s 100% tax-deductible). I know that we all have a lot of causes that we support so you may not be swimming in money, but even if you can only make a small donation, I’d really be grateful.

Thanks so much!

Thank you for your involvement!