Best Buddies Canada chapters receive international recognition

During the 22nd Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference, three of our chapters were recognized for their outstanding achievements: Evelyn Harrison Public School in London, West Vancouver Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the University of Toronto – St. George Campus.

Evelyn Harrison Public School in London was our first elementary school chapter and is now in its 3rd year. The chapter began with 20 and is now up to 60 participants. All the participants are matched one-to-one and participate in all group events/activities with their buddies. They meet once a week on Wednesdays. Not only do they do lots of cool things in weekly-group activities (crafts, games, video games, dancing, etc.) but they also do some pretty awesome events in the community. They have gone bowling, gone the movies, done the Read All About It event, had a year-end picnic and all the Peer Buddies assist and encourage their buddies at Special Olympics.

West Vancouver Secondary is in their third year running the Best Buddies program.  They were one of the first two high schools in British Columbia to establish a chapter!  They started off with a steady group of student volunteers and this year they have over 60 chapter members.  They participate in a number of activities in and out of school that include their annual trip to the Vancouver Aquarium, school lunch get-togethers, attending the Chapters/Indigo event and for the first time last year held a Best Buddies Ball.  The Ball included a live band, food, a photographer; and what really made the event special was that the female peer buddies helped their female buddies get all dressed up for the event.  All the peer buddies made sure that the buddies had a blast.  The West Vancouver Secondary chapter has the support of a wonderful special education teacher and principal, who both make sure the students have fun and make lasting memories.

The University of Toronto – St. George chapter were nominated for this award for all their hard work running the Best Buddies chapter at their school. The leadership team have worked hard to increase the number of members in their chapter, as well as to organize fundraisers while maintaining a full calendar of fun events.