Here are some of the ways Best Buddies has been staying connected and keeping friendships and inclusion strong!
The spring semester has brought a lot of events and excitement to Best Buddies in Indiana.
Congratulations to Chris Thornton and his campaign manager, RJ Zeph, our Champion of the Year winners for 2019!
The fall semester brought a significant influx of new chapters to Best Buddies Indiana.
It has been a busy start to the school year here at Best Buddies Indiana!
Best Buddies Indiana is proud to have TCC as an employment partner with our Jobs program…
On July 19th, Indiana University filled with 2,500 Best Buddies leaders from around the world…
The spring semester was an exciting time for Best Buddies Indiana!
Best Buddies has helped me to become a more accepting and open individual, a stronger leader, and a better friend.
In the six weeks since Scotty was hired as a lab assistant at Roche, he has done more than learn the essential functions of his job.
As a member of Butler University Best Buddies chapter, I’ve had the opportunity to use my leadership skills to make a difference…
RJ adds a new dynamic to our meetings and challenges us to think outside the box…
Madison and Thomas have been matched for six years since joining Best Buddies in seventh grade at Clark-Pleasant Middle School; now they are seniors at Whiteland Community High School.
This year, Indiana’s own Natalie Seibert was recognized as our staff member State Director of the Year for her tremendous efforts in Indiana. Natalie has dedicated the past 11 years to creating inclusive friendships, jobs, and leaders in Indiana.
The Best Buddies Indiana Jobs program helps people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities overcome employment barriers by working one on one with job seekers and employers to find or create jobs. One of those places is MOD Pizza…
This year the Best Buddies Indiana Gala raised over $320,000! The combined total for all of the 11 Champion teams was over $195,000 raised during the 8 week period. Indiana Rooftop Ballroom graciously hosted the Best Buddies Indiana Gala for the third year in a row.
Peter joined the Best Buddies Jobs Program in the summer of 2018 and was recently hired to work at Meals on Wheels. When asked about his favorite part of the job, Peter exclaimed, “Everything! I can’t pick just one thing.”
In the Best Buddies Jobs program, Hugh is dedicated to learning more about his own strengths and interests. Hugh currently works at the Golf Club of Indiana where he serves as a groundskeeper.
“My favorite part of Best Buddies is developing new friendships and seeing everyone interact with each other. I absolutely love seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces when our chapter comes together for our monthly events”
It’s been an exciting first couple months of the school year as chapters have held call-out meetings, match parties, and recruitment events to tell all their friends about how fun it is to be in Best Buddies!
Over 2,300 Best Buddies participants from around the globe gathered in Bloomington, Indiana at Indiana University to attend the Best Buddies Leadership Conference (BBLC) July 20-22, 2018.
Why did you join Best Buddies?
Kelsey: “Inclusion has always been a major part of my life. From a young age, I was exposed to an environment and lifestyle that taught me to love everyone…”
We are so excited about everything that our chapters have accomplished and are so excited to see their successes continue over the summer and into the upcoming year!
The Best Buddies Friendship Walk: Indianapolis took place on Sunday, April 22 at White River State Park, with more than 2000 people in attendance. Proceeds from the Best Buddies Friendship Walk provide the primary support for programs throughout Indiana.
“Having a friend is important to me because it helps me have a more positive attitude and focus on the good things. I want to thank Morgan for also introducing me to her workplace and helping get connected to a volunteer opportunity I really like.”
Best Buddies International, Special Olympics partner annually for Spread the Word to End the Word® Day. This internationally initiative aims to build awareness for society to stop and think about its use of the R-word and rally people to pledge respect toward all individuals, making the world a more accepting and inclusive place for all people.
Best Buddies has given our Jeremiah David the unexpected gift of acceptance and belonging. We didn’t pray for this, nor did we solicit it, yet we have embraced it and are eternally thankful. Best Buddies has given our 16-year-old with exceptional needs his first true friends.
Best Buddies has given Angie the opportunity to become a great leader and to know what true friendship is. Being a buddy director, a buddy ambassador, and an intern for Best Buddies Indiana has developed Angie’s leadership skills.
With a friendly disposition and kind heart, Zach Curtis has been such an influential Ambassador for Best Buddies. From Fishers, IN, he has been a part of Best Buddies in Middle School, High School, and now in the Butler University Chapter, where he serves as Buddy Director.
The benefits of RJ working at TCC extend far beyond the workplace. RJ’s mom Jodi Zeph quickly expresses the confidence that RJ now has in his everyday life. She is delighted that his social interactions have increased.
Here at Best Buddies Indiana, we kicked off February with our Friendship Walk Kick-Off! This year’s Friendship Walk Kick-Off was hosted by Park Tudor School.
“Before Best Buddies, I was going to work, working out, and then hanging out with friends. It didn’t seem like I was doing much for others…”
Matt was the trailblazer for the Best Buddies Indiana Jobs program. He joined the staff of the City of Indianapolis in August 2015, working in the human resources office.
This year, Indiana’s own Katie Harting was recognized as our staff member Rookie of the Year for her tremendous efforts in Indiana.
The end of November and December came with lots to be thankful for, holiday cheer, and leadership development for Best Buddies Indiana. Here is a recap of our holiday activities and the fall ambassador training!
The past two weekends have held lots of excitement for Best Buddies Indiana: the 2017 annual Friendship Ball, and the 2017 Champion of the Year wrap-up, Party with a Purpose. Read on for a recap of each of these exciting events!
Climbing on a fire truck, cleaning light bars from emergency vehicles, taking photos of commercial cooking stoves, chatting with the Mayor, setting up online auctions, sorting a couple hundred recycled three ring binders, collecting parking ticket fines…these are just some of the tasks Matt Burns may encounter in his job as a clerk with the City of Indianapolis.
Indiana’s Best Buddies Jobs program recently received a Three-Year Accreditation from CARF International which represents the highest level of accreditation that can be given to an organization and shows the organization’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards for a provider of supported employment services.
The Best Buddies 15th Anniversary Gala: A Celebration of Friendship took place on Saturday, March 4 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. Over 300 guests attended, enjoying silent and live auctions, a raffle of a beautiful diamond ring sponsored by Master Jewelers, dinner, dancing, and a program emceed by Eric Halvorson.
In February, several members of the Citizen’s Program met at the ArtMix studios at the Harrison Center for the Arts to participate in a candle decorating project. Led by Jobs Program supervisor and craft aficionado Kim Harvey, fifteen Citizen’s Program Participants donned protective gloves and nurtured their inner Impressionist as they inked over 100 gorgeous candles…
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