David Quilleon with his siblings Ken and Kendra and his friends, Heath Miller and Ian Ziering at a USF Best Buddies meeting in 1991.<\/p><\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

Why is important for Alumni to reconnect with Best Buddies?<\/strong>\u00a0Alumni should connect with us because their voice and passion for our mission has the potential to affect real change. Best Buddies needs all of our alumni members to stand up and help us secure more friendships, jobs, and leadership opportunities for our buddies. I often imagined my siblings, Ken and Kendra feeling like they were trapped inside of a butterfly cocoon. Their world existed of this tiny, dark enclosure. Never able to soar and show their true colors. And then, Best Buddies came along and provided the perfect environment to crack that shackle of confinement for my siblings and many other people with intellectual disabilities. Thousands of our participants soar like butterflies, with their wings of color on the clouds of friendship, employment, and leadership each and every day. There are still so many more people out there that need to experience the beauty and power of our mission.<\/p>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In often segregated landscapes including school and work, the need and dependency for friendships is vital…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"alumni-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news"],"yoast_head":"\n