• Best Buddies � is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment.

  Founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, Best Buddies is a vibrant, international organization that has grown from one original chapter to more than 1,200 middle school, high school, and college campuses across the country and internationally. Best Buddies programs engage participants in each of the 50 United States. We have accredited international programs on six continents with additional country programs under active development. Our six formal programs – Best Buddies Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens, e -Buddies� and Jobs – will positively impact more than 250,000 individuals this year. Best Buddies also is systematically implementing our 2010 initiative that will witness the organization's continued significant growth, both domestically and overseas. Best Buddies volunteers annually contribute services to the community that equate to $61 million USD.

  Even though Best Buddies has advanced tremendously in our short existence, many areas of the country and many regions of the world still lack programs to help people with intellectual disabilities become part of mainstream society. Our goal is to continue expanding nationwide and at the local community level, while more broadly engaging the global community through our programs.

Our Programs

92% of all revenue goes directly to Best Buddies programs for people with intellectual disabilities, while only 8% is spent on administration and fundraising.

When people with disabilities are unable to attain or maintain a job, it is most often due to an absence of social skills rather than an inadequacy to perform the work required. Best Buddies introduces socialization opportunities and job coaching, providing the necessary tools for people with intellectual disabilities to become more independent and, consequently, more included in the community.

• Best Buddies Middle Schools matches students with intellectual disabilities with other middle school students and creates one-to-one friendships between them. In today's middle schools, students with intellectual disabilities enter the same building and walk the same hallways as their peers, but are very often left out of social activities.
• Best Buddies High Schools matches students with intellectual disabilities with other high school students and creates one-to-one friendships between them. By introducing Best Buddies to public and private high schools, we are crossing the invisible line that too often separates those with disabilities from those without.
• Best Buddies Colleges matches people with intellectual disabilities with college students and creates one-to-one friendships between them. In the past, individuals with intellectual disabilities have not had the opportunity to have friends outside of their own, often isolated, environment. By becoming a College Buddy, volunteers offer a Buddy the chance to explore life in a new way.
• e-Buddies� creates respective e-mail friendships between people with and without intellectual disabilities. Using the technology of e-mail, Best Buddies brings additional unconventional opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities through e-Buddies. Visit our web site, www.ebuddies.org, to find out more.
• Best Buddies Citizens pairs people with intellectual disabilities in one-to-one friendships with other individuals in the corporate and civic communities. Without love, support, and friends, our lives would be empty - a life people with intellectual disabilities have been forced to live throughout history. Volunteers are changing this by simply sharing their time with new friends.
• Best Buddies Jobs is a supported employment program. Its goal is to secure competitive, paying jobs for people with intellectual disabilities. The program targets job sites, competitively places individuals and promotes ongoing support and training. This enables people with intellectual disabilities to work as respected individuals alongside others in the community.