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People all around the world are coming together by "playing unified to live unified."
Miami, FL, September 22, 2011—People around the world will unite to celebrate the spirit and legacy of Special Olympics’ late founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver (EKS), at the Second Annual EKS Day on Saturday, September 24. Eunice Kennedy Shriver dedicated her life to empowering people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) through Special Olympics and showed the transformative power of sports to unite people of all abilities. She was also a long-time Best Buddies supporter and board member.
Best Buddies and Special Olympics supporters will come together on playing fields everywhere to commemorate the day of service in her name. EKS Day is a global call to action, challenging everyone to “play unified to live unified,” because Eunice Kennedy Shriver demonstrated that on the playing field, people forget about their differences and recognize our mutual humanity.
As part of the worldwide event, Best Buddies will host various activities taking place both nationally and internationally, including:
- Best Buddies e-Buddies participants around the world will be performing Acts of Unity by e-mailing their e-Buddies. The e-Buddies program connects people with and without IDD in e-mail friendships. On average, e-Buddies send 150 e-mails every day. The organization’s goal for this EKS Day is to collectively send 500 e-mails to show the world that people with disabilities are included online. e-Buddies who participate at school will send e-mails on Friday, September 23rd.
- Best Buddies Nevada will offer a variety of activities including a picnic and volleyball games with the Green Valley High School volleyball teams. Additionally, information stations, which will include videos about Mrs. Shriver and EKS Day, will be set up. These stations will also provide opportunities for attendees to sign a STW pledge banner, submit friendship stories, distribute information cards to people within the park and enter drawings to win raffle prizes.
- Best Buddies New York will gather participants from local college, high school and middle school chapters, who will come together for an afternoon of fun in Central Park. As a celebration of inclusion for people with IDD, activities will include arts and crafts, sports, a scavenger hunt and picnic.
- Best Buddies Illinois will host three life leadership training days for their high school and college chapters, where they will include a presentation on EKS's legacy and brainstorm for ideas that students can take back to their chapters and implement. Each chapter will pledge to complete an act this year with the goal of raising awareness about the disability rights movement in their community. Additionally, participants are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to their training day. The collected items will be donated to local food pantries in honor of EKS Day.
- Volunteers from Best Buddies Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. will participate in Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play (WWDOP) event at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., in honor of EKS. Best Buddies, in partnership with AbilityPath.org, and Special Olympics, will be hosting a Unity Dance Party, which will be open to participants of all abilities, during the WWDOP event.
- Best Buddies Guatemala has planned to have a walk with buddy pairs; Israel will host a “mini Olympics” as well as send cards to a retirement home for the Jewish New Year; and Turkey is currently at a festival with a group of buddies, whom they are sharing Eunice’s life and legacy with. Best Buddies Turkey will also participate in Special Olympics Turkey’s EKS Day events.
Anthony Kennedy Shriver, founder and chairman of Best Buddies International, said of his mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, “She believed that when people with intellectual and developmental disabilities got on the playing field, all of their perceived differences went right out the window. Likewise, she thought that when they became employed and worked side-by- side with other employees, and when they became friends with a person who didn’t have a disability, the same thing happened. That notion is the basis for Best Buddies, where our volunteers learn to see people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for their enormous talent, their enormous ability and their enormous skills.”
People around the world in over 100 countries will participate in EKS Day in honor of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Fans can register their local events by going to www.eksday.org, sharing their stories of inclusion on Twitter by using #EKSDay, and by “liking” Best Buddies International on Facebook and inviting their friends to do the same.
About Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day is an annual celebration of her life and a global call challenging everyone to “Play Unified to Live Unified” because she taught us that on the playing field, we forget about our differences and recognize our mutual humanity. On EKS Day, we invite you to join us in playing unified and teaching the world to live unified. As founder and honorary chairperson of Special Olympics and executive vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was a leader in the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities for more than five decades. Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s actions helped open the minds of all people to the gifts and talents of individuals with intellectual disabilities. She believed in their possibilities, which fuel hope in all of us to make a difference. Eunice Kennedy Shriver demonstrated an unrelenting indomitable spirit in action that one person could make a difference and change the world. Her lasting legacy must be our continued commitment to improve and transform the lives of the 200 million people worldwide with intellectual disabilities that still live with diminished opportunities and social disrespect, and are often neglected and hidden away. Visit www.eksday.org and www.eunicekennedyshirver.org to learn more.
About Best Buddies International
Best Buddies® is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, Best Buddies is a vibrant organization that has grown from one original chapter to almost 1,500 middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Today, Best Buddies’ seven formal programs – Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens, e-Buddies® , Jobs and Ambassadors – engage participants in each of the 50 states and in 50 countries, positively impacting the lives of nearly 700,000 people with and without disabilities around the world. As a result of their involvement with Best Buddies, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities secure rewarding jobs, live on their own, become inspirational leaders, and make lifelong friendships. For more information, please visit www.bestbuddies.org.
Contact
For questions regarding Best Buddies International’s involvement in EKS Day:
MEDIA:
Jennifer Hanlon Office: 305.374.2233 ext. 245
Communications Coordinator E-mail:
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BEST BUDDIES EVENTS:
Valerie Vitale Office: 305.374.2233 ext. 302
Senior Director of Programs E-mail:
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