The Union College chapter of Best Buddies participated in the annual Best Buddies Friendship Walk on Sunday, April 22 at the Crossgates Mall.
“[Best Buddies facilitates the] integration of people with IDD and actual one-on-one friendships… they also help with jobs with people with IDD,” Walk Officer Talia Paradiso ’19 said.
The mission of Best Buddies, as stated on their website, is to end “the social, physical and economic isolation” of people with IDD and “empower the special abilities of people with IDD by helping them form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve public speaking, self-advocacy and communication skills and feel valued by society.”
“I actually joined because one of my friends was in it… I came to one of their events and I really loved the sense of community there was between buddies and students. It really brought a new sense of perspective to the school,” club Treasurer Fatima Ropri ’20 said.
The walk signaled the end of the yearly fundraising efforts done by chapters of the club. Local chapters of Best Buddies raised $136,146.92 for the organization, shy of the goal of $200,000.
Money from the fundraiser goes to job employment and buddy-matching programs run by the international organization. The Union chapter raised $130 for the fundraiser through Blaze and Chipotle fundraisers they held leading up to the walk.
“It was a lot of fun. Usually I meet my buddy just us two but here there were a lot of people… it was a really fun atmosphere, being here with all the best buddies and Union College,” Eeshan Kumar ’21 said.
Kumar’s buddy, Andy Hausler, was able to make it to the walk; however, the other buddies of Union students were not able to attend.
As part of the integration effort, the Best Buddies organization in coordination with local chapter leaders match intellectually-disabled participants in the program with volunteers to foster friendships.
“It’s all about inclusion and breaking the barrier between people with IDD and people who we think are normal,” Ryann Shadick ’19 said. At Union, there are more students involved than local participants.
Members with buddies meet with them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
As a club, there are weekly events for buddies to get together with the entire campus chapter, as well as special events often in coordination with other campus groups.
“My sister has an intellectual disability and I would want other people to help her have a fun time,” Lydia Hursh ’21 said.
Students from Union left the campus at 7:45 a.m. to get transported to Crossgates Mall where they checked in.
The walk began at 9:10 a.m. and ended just before 10:00 a.m.
It took place in the mall and afterwards there were activities in which for buddies could participate, such as coloring, a Play-Doh station and places to get group photos taken.
“The chapters from the whole New York area come to Albany to do this friendship walk. It’s kind of the culmination of their fundraising efforts,” Paradiso said.