A Message From Our
State Director
Dear Friends, All of us at Best Buddies in Maine extend our deepest appreciation to our wonderful participants, families, volunteers, donors, and corporate partners for such a successful year! Your support and dedication to our mission help our programs grow, creating inclusive communities throughout our state. Happy Holidays to you & yours, and here’s to continued growth in 2024! In Friendship,
Rebecca Williams, State Director
One-to-One Friendship Programs
36
TOTAL CHAPTERS
First-Annual Best Buddies Prom
In addition to the dozens of chapter events hosted at our schools, we were able to host our inaugural Best Buddies Prom this year, sponsored & hosted by Unum. At the end of Best Buddies Month 2023, over 120 students showed up dressed to the nines and ready to celebrate each other, regardless of their disability status. Student leaders and faculty advisors coordinated buses and carpool, Buddy pairs matched their outfits, and students with AND without IDD were able to dance the night away with their newfound friends!
Ambassadors Program
Best Buddies Ambassadors is a program that provides training for participants with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities in areas of speech writing, public speaking, and self-advocacy, and other public-facing skills. The goal is to enable student and adults alike to speak up and advocate for the needs of the disability community.
Scan the QR code to meet our 2023 Ambassadors! 9
With fifteen student leaders and one state Ambassador in tow, we traveled to our FIRST Best Buddies Leadership Conference at Indiana University this past July! Over 1,600 Best Buddies members from across the world joined us, and the week was filled with meaningful conversations and dynamic workshops that prepared us for the year ahead.
We hosted a number of new fundraising events this year to support our growing programs, including our “1K on Industrial Way” in collaboration with a handful of local breweries.
BBME Staff Growth
We were thrilled to invite Cara Maloney onto our team this summer as our Lead Program Manager in the Waterville and Bangor areas. With years of teaching experience in the Maine public education system, most recently at Deering High School, Cara has been a great addition to our growing team. After BBLC, she hit the ground running in her area. We look forward to continuing our growth in Waterville and Bangor, and expanding to new areas!
TOTAL RAISED $75,000 PORTLAND BANGOR $67,000 $8,000
We were thrilled to host TWO Friendship Walks for the first time this year! Our numbers in Portland continue to grow with over 500 Walkers showing up for the mission of inclusion, and our newly-founded Bangor Walk easily met its first fundraising goal. Thank you to our sponsors, Walkers, and volunteers for coming out every year to support.
The Year Ahead Second-Annual Best Buddies Prom Thursday, March 28th, 2024 Unum Portland Campus 2024 Champion of the Year Gala Friday, October 25th, 2024 Brick South at Thompson’s Point BANGOR Friendship Walk Sunday, April 28th, 2024 Bangor High School PORTLAND Friendship Walk Sunday, May 5th, 2024 Cheverus High School
Visit bestbuddies.org/maine/friendship-walk to learn more and register for our 2024 Walks!
Best Buddies in Elementary Schools Best Buddies International has recently built up our program offerings for elementary schools, and we’re looking to add more to our ranks in 2024! Our current elementary school chapters are seeing the benefit of introducing disability awareness and acceptance to students at a young age, as it sets them up for more tolerant and empathetic development.
Scan the QR code to meet our chapter at Brown Elementary!
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