It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Abby Meihsner. Abby was born to eternal life on July 13, 2019.
Best Buddies WI is proud to honor Sarah Binder as our 2019 Advisor of the Year. Thank you to Sarah Binder for her time as a Best Buddies Advisor at Delong Middle School!
This past school year, we directly impacted more than 36,000 students, parents, teachers, and community members through our friendship and leadership programs…
March is Best Buddies Month, a perfect time to highlight all the wonderful characteristics and abilities of our friends with intellectual and developmental disabilities and advocate for integrated opportunities and inclusion.
Before becoming involved in Best Buddies, I had an unfulfilled passion within me to advocate for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)…
We’ve been matched since fall of 2017. She’s a ray of sunshine that on many occasions has turned the worst days completely around. Because of her Angelman Sydrome,..
Best Buddies in Wisconsin partnered with Associated Bank to host its inaugural Leadership Academy Training.
Steinhafels Sponsors Six Wisconsin Best Buddies Friendship Programs.
2018 has been filled with many new adventures, and of course, another year of friendship and inclusion. As we dive into our 30th anniversary, let us first reflect on all we accomplished in 2018.
On January 12, 2019, nearly 200 Best Buddies student leaders, faculty advisors, and parents came together for our annual Project: Inclusion event.
On Thursday, November 1st, 2018, Best Buddies in Wisconsin hosted our annual Leadership Breakfast at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.
During the month of October, our middle school, high school, and college chapters host Match Parties to reveal their chapter’s new buddy pairs for the year.
Heart of Canal Street is Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s signature community program that raises funds for children’s charities – and Best Buddies Wisconsin is in the running to be a 2018 beneficiary!
With the start of the new school year comes new and exciting changes here at Best Buddies Wisconsin. We are thrilled to welcome four new staff members to the BBWI team.
If you imagine the purest, most beautiful thing you could see, that’s Tatyana Spidell to me. We’ve been matched since fall of 2017. She’s a ray of sunshine that on many occasions has turned the worst days completely around…
Best Buddies Wisconsin welcomed 64 participants from across the state to the 29th Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference in Bloomington, Indiana. These high school and college students, ambassadors, volunteers, and staff met almost 3,000 Best Buddies participants from around the world, all while strengthening their leadership skills.
This April, Best Buddies WI held our annual Brewers Game and Tailgate. We had a record number of Best Buddies participants attend! This event welcomed all Best Buddies Wisconsin Chapters to enjoy an afternoon of games, food, and the opportunity to meet some of the Brewers players!
Spread the Word to End the Word is a national campaign to end the use of the R-word. The campaign was started to create more accepting attitudes and communities for all people by asking people to pledge to end the use of the derogatory word.
On January 27, 2018, nearly 200 Best Buddies student leaders, faculty advisors, and parents came together for our annual Project: Inclusion event at the Divine Savior Holy Angels High School.
Best Buddies Wisconsin would like to thank all of our participants, supporters, volunteers, and donors for a fantastic 2017! We have so many successes in 2017 to be thankful for.
It was an incredible and inspiring morning where more than 260 of our friends and supporters joined us in celebration. The event raised more than $85,000, which will be used to support our friendship and leadership development programs in Wisconsin.
Upon successful completion of the Ambassador training program, Buddy Ambassadors go on to participate in a number of local events and speaking engagements. To show you our Ambassadors mission in action, we want to shine a light on Brianna Powers (Bri).
Best Buddies Wisconsin school friendship programs continue to grow with nearly 650 buddy pairs in 50 chapters throughout the state.
Heart of Canal Street is Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s signature community program that raises funds for children’s charities – and Best Buddies Wisconsin is in the running to be a 2017 beneficiary! Help give the gift of a promising future by playing the Canal Street Bingo game now through Dec. 14.
We want you to get to know our two new Program Managers a little bit better, so we interviewed them! Check out some of their fun facts below.
We want you to get to know our two new Program Managers a little bit better, so we interviewed them! Check out some of their fun facts below.
A culture of giving back…that’s the Steinhafels motto. Steinhafels does not like to stay hidden behind the doors of its stores across the region. When we first started our conversations with their staff about a partnership, that commitment to community was very apparent through their work with more than 100 local nonprofits each year.
In the seven years I have known Sam, he truly has become the best friend I have. We like to get ice cream, go to the beach, and take walks in the parks in our area. We can do these activities and just be happy to be in one another’s company. We chat about our surroundings, laugh at stupid things, and enjoy chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream without ever feeling judged.
In the seven years I have known Sam, he truly has become the best friend I have. We like to get ice cream, go to the beach, and take walks in the parks in our area. We can do these activities and just be happy to be in one another’s company. We chat about our surroundings, laugh at stupid things, and enjoy chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream without ever feeling judged.
Buddies teamed up at DeLong Middle School in Eau Claire Wednesday to help end hurtful speech. Groups of students went around to different classrooms to make a presentation and encourage fellow classmates to pledge to stop…
Best Buddies Month is a time for Best Buddies participants to reflect on the importance of friendship, jobs, and the development of future leaders. Most importantly, it is a time to show the world the significance of these essentials in every individual’s life.
On January 28, nearly 150 Best Buddies student leaders came together for our annual Project: Inclusion training at the Northwest YMCA. This year’s event featured an advanced ambassador training, as well as guest speakers and workshops focused on building an inclusive community and improving leadership skills.
Looking back at 2016, it has been a year of firsts for Best Buddies Wisconsin. We started our first elementary school chapter at Prairie View Elementary; and our first chapter in Brown County at St. Norbert College.
WISN 12 News highlighted one of our fantastic buddy pairs, Alyssa and Lily, from the Homestead High School chapter for #GivingTuesday. Lily and Alyssa have been matched in Best Buddies for 3 years now. We thank them for sharing their story with us!
On November 6, Best Buddies Wisconsin participated as Team Best Buddies in the 2nd Annual Milwaukee Running Festival as a charity. Team Best Buddies is an endurance event program that enables athletes of all abilities to dedicate their training and participation in endurance events to the life-changing movement of inclusion for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities.
October is one of the busiest months for Best Buddies Wisconsin as school chapters collect information to make compatible matches and plan events to announce their new buddy pairs. Every chapter takes a different approach to introducing their new friendships and it’s great to see their creativity at work.
On September 15, 2016, Best Buddies Wisconsin hosted Annual Leadership Breakfast at The Pfister Hotel Grand Ballroom. Thanks to our supporters, sponsors, students, schools and parents – we had a full room looking to learn more about and support Best Buddies Wisconsin raising more than $80,000 to continue our mission.
The 27th annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference (#BBLC2016) was a four day adventure, held from July 22 through July 25, 2016. It was hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The weekend focused on offering training opportunities for attendees to share ideas, networking opportunities to meet new people, and most importantly, lasting friendships.
WISN 12 News highlighted buddy pair, Chelsea and Melissa, from the Brookfield Central High School chapter on Giving Tuesday. These ladies are a great example of our mission! To watch the video and read the story
New York, NY (November 11, 2015) – A&E Network will premiere the new original docuseries “Born This Way,” following a group of seven young adults born with Down syndrome along with their family and friends in Southern California. The six-episode, hour-long series from Bunim-Murray Productions premieres Tuesday, December 8 at […]
Fox 6 recently featured the Oak Creek High School Best Buddies chapter and the wonderful things they are doing to promote inclusion in the school.
Olivia Quigley, a Best Buddies Wisconsin Citizens participant and Ambassador, has been receiving a lot of press lately. And rightfully so. Olivia recently traveled to the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles where she won gold in the 100 meter sprint. She competed at the Games while battling stage […]
We hit record attendance at our Citizens Holiday Party on November 23rd. The event was held at iPic Theatres inside of the Bayshore Town Center. Everyone had an awesome time! Our attendees enjoyed music, bowling, and yummy refreshments provided by Pinstrikes. Best Buddies Wisconsin wants to thank iPic Theatres and [...]
As the new school year kicks off, Best Buddies Wisconsin would like to recognize the recipients of the 2014-15 Outstanding Chapter of the Year awards. Every year there are those certain chapters that go above and beyond. These chapters are run by strong student leaders, have mutually enriching friendships, and […]
Who knew one person could have such a positive impact on your life? I didnt realize that until I met my Best Buddy, Kelsey Fletcher, on October 1, 2013. Ever since that day when we were matched up per our schools Best Buddies program, our friendship has grown and grown. […]
This July, we had the opportunity to travel down to Bloomington, Indiana to attend a worldwide Leadership Conference. Of the attendees, there were 53 high schoolstudents, five ambassadors, seven college students, six volunteers, two advisory board members, one intern and four staff members. The weekend was very busy to say […]
Hannah, chapter president for Cedarburg High School, and her buddy, Jenni, are a fantastic example of leadership. Everyone deserves friendship and to be respected no matter what their abilities are. Best Buddies has been a huge part of their lives. As Hannah shared, “I have met so many amazing people […]
Best Buddies Wisconsin launched their adult Friendship program, Citizens, in June, 2013. The goal of this program was to create one-to-one friendships between local adults with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In August, 2013, Best Buddies Wisconsin made their first Citizens match, Becky and Steph. When they joined […]
“My name is Emma and I am a senior attending Menomonee Falls High School. Ever since I was a little girl, the special education community was something I was very drawn to. Not knowing how to get involved, for many years I stayed off to the side. As I grew […]
On November 21, 2015, two ambassadors from Best Buddies in Wisconsin spoke on behalf of the organization at the Bayanihan Student Organization (BSO) Fashion Show Fundraiser. The Ambassador program offers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) the opportunity to gain the public speaking skills, self-esteem, and confidence needed to successfully […]