11/9/11 – Providence, RI – If you were present for junior or senior lunch at La Salle on a Wednesday in late October you may have noticed some 
new faces in the cafeteria….The La Salle Best Buddies Club hosted a lunch for students from the Meeting Street School in Providence.
What is Best Buddies? It’s an international organization with middle school, high school, and 
college chapters, including at La Salle Academy. What is the group’s mission? According to the organization’s website, it is a nonprofit “…volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Though Best Buddies is a relatively new nonprofit, created by Anthony Kennedy Shriver in 1989, there are nearly 1,500 chapters worldwide. The organization has been recognized and endorsed by celebrities, politicians, major businesses, and ordinary men and women all over the world.
This is the second year La Salle students have “buddied” with young men and women at the Meeting Street School in Providence. The partnership has been life-giving, enlightening, and just plain fun for both groups. Past events have included: the Meeting Street School prom, a lunch at La Salle and afternoon visits where students play games, create art, and simply talk and get to know each other.
At this year’s informational meeting for La Salle Best Buddies more than 120 students showed up and expressed interest in having a Buddy. It’s no wonder, too, if the experience of the current Best Buddies officers is any indicator of how great the organization is.
“Best Buddies has taught me how simple friendship really is,” said Jonathan Estrada, a senior, and this year’s La Salle Academy’s Best Buddies President. “Friends don’t have to necessarily be someone who you have everything in common with. Friends don’t have to be people who you need to buy gifts for on Christmas or their birthdays. Best Buddies strips down the superficial aspects of friendship into something basic. The program has taught me that a friend is really simply someone who you just enjoy spending time with. Best Buddies has taught me that friendship is really just being with someone.”
Jonathan attended a national Best Buddies Leadership Conference over the summer, and he is eager to continue using what he learned there to grow La Salle’s chapter and also spread awareness about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Catherine Maloney, also a senior, and Best Buddies Vice President, adds that, “Best Buddies is a great program for all high school students to participate in. The buddies which we have the opportunity to spend time with are inspirational and amazing individuals. The friendships we form greatly affect all members involved and from the Buddies we learn acceptance, love, and strength. I would strongly recommend anyone to participate in such a program if given the opportunity.”
Through being a part of Best Buddies at La Salle, Catherine says that she has learned about others and about herself.