WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Best Buddies International is a non-profit organization promoting inclusion and empowering people with friendship, specifically people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Whether it's improving social skills, or helping people find a job, Best Buddies it one of the only organizations in the country focused on the importance of one-on-one friendship.
The community they serve includes, but is not limited to, people with Down syndrome, autism, Fragile X, Williams syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and other undiagnosed disabilities.
David Quilleon with Best Buddies West Palm Beach said their mission has never been more impotent than it is now.
"During this time of the COVID pandemic, everybody's kind of felt what it feels like to be isolated and unfortunately, that's a life many of our participants have lived for a long time," Quilleon said. "So, for them suddenly to feel like their part of their campus or community, and they can have meaningful work and they can have friends, I think that's what everybody wants."
On Saturday, April 30, Best Buddies West Palm Beach is hosting their biggest fundraiser of the year.
For the first time in nearly three years, hundreds will gather in person at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches to walk for a cause.
In the United States, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities hovers around 84%, according to Quilleon. Best Buddies wants to change that.
"Our solution us all about inclusion, and that when you can foster friendships, when you can create meaningful employment opportunities and celebrate people as leader with intellectual disabilities, that really truly can change the world with the power of friendship," Quilleon said.
The Friendship Walk event will start at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. For more information, click here.
The event is free to attend. If you raise at least $50, you'll get a t-shirt.
