<\/p>\n

“I<\/span>t was a party that I had been looking forward to for weeks \u2014 the Best Buddies 2019 Gala, explained Billy Fong, Best Buddies supporter on Paper City Magazine<\/a>. “When an invite proclaims \u201cParty Like It\u2019s 1989!<\/a>\u201d with an image of a cassette tape, I\u2019m immediately on board. My formative years were the \u201980s.”<\/p>\n

‘The lineup of incredible performers and speakers kept everyone’s attention on the stage. One of the first was Best Buddies Founder Anthony Kennedy Shriver<\/strong>, who spoke of his longtime passion and commitment to the organization. Recognizing the tremendous volunteer potential of university students, Shriver first inspired his college peers at Georgetown University to personally collaborate in expanding the realm of opportunities that people with IDD could experience. He then welcomed to the podium the honorary chairs, well-known philanthropists\u00a0Jan Miller<\/strong>\u00a0and her husband\u00a0Jeff Rich<\/strong>, and\u00a0Bill Durham<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Zachary Siegel<\/strong>, a senior at Lebanon Trail High School and president of the Best Buddies chapter on his campus, also gave a shout out to the crowd and thanked them for their support. He went on to share the story of meeting his best friend,\u00a0Jace\u00a0Nyland Rathke<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Performers that got the audience pumped for the night and the cause included Bebe Winans<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Korean Soul<\/strong>.\u00a0Carsen Lundgren<\/strong>\u00a0sang \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d and \u201cTennessee Whiskey\u201d with\u00a0Mars Hill<\/strong>. Rex Lewis Clark<\/strong>, who is blind and autistic, played the piano and Marla VanHoose<\/strong> performed with Mars Hill.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1582558548725{margin-top: -15px !important;}”]\n

Read the Full Article<\/a>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1582558556824{margin-top: -15px !important;}”]\n

Dallas Gala Photos<\/a>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly 850 people attended the 23rd Annual Best Buddies Miami Gala at Mana Wynwood on Friday, November 22. The event raised $2.9 million in total donations for Best Buddies International. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":121143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"news-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[676],"tags":[1831,830,1823,1827,1832,1829,1825,1826,1830,398,1824,1833,1828],"class_list":["post-121124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-archive","tag-bebe-williams","tag-best-buddies-gala","tag-best-buddies-gala-dallas","tag-bill-durham","tag-carsen-lundgren","tag-jace-rathke","tag-jan-miller","tag-jeff-rich","tag-korean-soul","tag-marlana-vanhoose","tag-paper-city-magazine","tag-rex-lewis-clark","tag-zachary-siegel"],"yoast_head":"\n