Best Buddies is a club that helps end social and physical isolation for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The goal in the school community is for students to create strong bonds with those who have any form of disability, and to help them strengthen skills that they might need.

“My personal goal is to build friendships, plan fun activities, and make sure the officers and I have goals we achieve throughout the school year,” said senior Valeria Cedeño, president of Best Buddies.

Last week, the club held an event at Tropical Park. The club also organized a donation on Sunday, November 7th. Students brought food, played introduction games, and painted on canvas with the children. 

The event was a great success, according to senior Diego Cedeño.

“It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Miami, and the temperature was a cool 68 degrees. It was just a perfect day to have the event outside.” said Cedeño.

The event lasted two hours, and volunteers saw that the children had so much fun participating in the variety of enriching activities. The Best Buddies group strives to make the environment and comforting and nurturing place for the kids to help them with social skills. All of the special needs children that participated in the event came from the Miami Learning Experience, a

nonprofit organization for children with intellectual disabilities from birth through adulthood.

Since the event, the Best Buddies organization has been planning another event to happen in December. They will be collaborating with Miami Learning Experience again and hosting another event with some of the same children that they help. They will be making gingerbread houses with the kids to continue growing friendships and helping them gain important skills.