On March 19, Best Buddies Club had a Saint Patrick’s Day-themed event. The goal was to celebrate a well-known holiday while creating connections between members and buddies.
“The goal of this event was to fulfill the Best Buddies mission of spreading inclusion and ensuring that everyone has a place in our community. However, this event was specifically centered around Saint Patrick’s day and celebrating Irish traditions,” Lily Parrish, junior and Best Buddies co-president, said.
Lily talked about what the Best Buddies board does to plan successful events like this one.
“Well, we do multiple things. We brainstorm during our board meeting to ensure that we have impactful and fun events. We usually choose the theme of our events based on the time of the year, or important times of the year that Best Buddies members should celebrate together. For example, April is autism awareness month, so we will be having one of our programs dedicated to it. Additionally, we make sure that the activities are adaptive for the buddies, and engaging for everyone. Also, we make sure that there is plenty of time for buddies and members to bond and build connections,” Lily said.
According to Lily, the event was a huge success. “The event was successful because there were a lot of happy members and buddies. I saw a lot of connections being made,” Lily said.
The event was centered on two main activities: a Saint Patrick’s Day themed trivia and Saint Patrick’s Day coloring sheets. Lauren Fuller, a freshman at Homestead who is a member of Best Buddies, claims that her favorite activity was “doing the trivia” because her teammate, Angel, “was super good at it.”
Fuller also stated that her favorite part of the whole event was hanging out with all of the buddies, but specifically Angel Simental, who “sang her a lot of good songs.” Fuller said that she “always looks forward to going to best buddies events” because “they are very fun.” “I feel like I am able to make meaningful connections with other students,” Fuller said.
Simental also had a lot of fun at the event. He enjoyed doing the trivia. “I liked all of the questions,” Angel said. Simental mentioned that he had a lot of fun with his friend Andrew during the event. “I like Andrew,” Angel said.
