By Ari Massefski, Class of 2014
As he sat on a park bench in University Yard, Leroy, a student at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, looked up and grinned at an approaching George Washington University student.
“It’s my best buddy friend!” he exclaimed.
Leroy is a student with an IDD, or an intellectual and developmental disability. Best Buddies, an international nonprofit organization founded in 1989, is dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-on-one friendships and leadership development for people with an IDD. Best Buddies has nearly 1,500 chapters around the world at colleges, middle and high schools as well as businesses and civic community groups.
The Best Buddies Colleges’ chapter at the George Washington regularly gets together with a group of students from St. Coletta, a school in Southeast D.C., which supports children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
“We work really hard to create new, fun social events for our buddies to experience,” said Emily Martuscello, a junior studying political communication in the School of Media and Public Affairs and the director of GW’s Best Buddies chapter.
Best Buddies pairs one GW student with one St. Coletta student, and the group comes together at least twice a month for events like picnics, dances and games.
Earlier this month, Best Buddies and St. Colleta came together at University Yard for a Sports and Spa Night, co-sponsored by Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. The event was part of Pi Kappa Phi's philanthropy week, War of the Roses, and benefited Push America, a national philanthropic organization that raises awareness for people with disabilities. With free food, a kickball game and several Frisbees, the students had a chance to reunite after a summer apart.
“Best Buddies does great work on campus,” said junior Brian Steele, a Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brother and event co-organizer.
The event was a huge success, with more than 200 people crowding University Yard to participate. Some visited a make-shift spa, where members of sororities were doing nails and braiding hair, while others went straight for the food, which was being handed out by members of the fraternities participating in the event.
“Everyone deserves to have a friend,” said Ms. Martuscello.