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Organization searching for buddies
By The Chronicle-Journal
Friday, October 17, 2008

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Who couldn‘t use one more friend?
That‘s the question organizers of the Best Buddies program at Confederation College and Lakehead University are asking their fellow students this fall while trying to recruit volunteers to buddy up with people from the community with intellectual disabilities.
The not-for-profit program, which made its way to Thunder Bay five years ago, has been running nationally for 15 years. Students from colleges, universities and – starting this year – high schools volunteer and are matched with individuals from the community living with everything from physical disabilities to Down syndrome to speech impediments.
“We have a lot of people who would like a buddy but we‘re just having a hard time getting people to volunteer,” said Erika Kurm, who runs Best Buddies at Confederation College.
Currently the college, which has run the program successfully in the past, has no one volunteering with Best Buddies.
At Lakehead, Best Buddies organizer Scott Tiffin said there are currently six sets of buddies paired up.
“We always need more buddies,” he said.
Kurm and Tiffin said Best Buddies partner Community Living Thunder Bay has at least 30 people with disabilities on a waiting list for a partner.
Once paired up, buddies meet up when it is convenient for both. Kurm said they can hang out, go for a coffee, go shopping, watch movies or do an activity like bowling.
“Basically they can do whatever they want to do,” she said.
“It doesn‘t even feel like volunteering, it‘s just like having another friend and it is a lot of fun,” added Tiffin.
Kurm said the important thing at the end of the day is that the disabled buddy gets something out of the experience.
“A lot of people who have disabilities are only surrounded by paid staff like social workers, support staff and doctors, so it is a nice change to actually go for coffee with someone who isn‘t being paid to be with you,” she said.
For information about how to volunteer go to www.bestbuddies.ca or e-mail Erika Kurm (Confederation College) at erikakurm@gmail.com or Scott Tiffin (Lakehead University) at stiffin@lakeheadu.ca.
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