{"id":180638,"date":"2024-04-30T09:51:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T13:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=180638"},"modified":"2024-04-30T09:51:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T13:51:45","slug":"best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor","title":{"rendered":"Best Buddies programs expanding across Bangor"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”180640″ img_size=”full”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”180642″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”180641″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”180639″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]BANGOR \u2013 Over 100 community members gathered at Cameron Stadium for the second annual Best Buddies Friendship Walk.<\/p>\n

“It’s a community celebration for people to come together who are involved in best buddies or community members who have never heard of it,” said Senior Program Manager for Best Buddies in Maine, Cara Maloney. Best Buddies is a non-profit national organization that creates opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and those without to form lasting friendships.<\/p>\n

“We’ve almost tripled our numbers from last year, Best Buddies is fairly new to Central Maine, we’ve been in Southern Maine for a couple years but we’re slowly moving throughout the state,” said Maloney. Organizers say they continue to see a growing number of chapters in schools and communities across the state. “When we started the club, it was just me and my advisor, and we’ve grown the club to over 41 members now,” said Bangor High School Best Buddies Chapter President Jasmine Roy.<\/p>\n

Roy says they saw a great need for the program at Bangor High School. “I think a lot of the students get left out because they need special things to do, so we cater to all of that and we really just include them around the school and make them feel loved and make sure they really get the school experience that everybody else gets,” said Roy. “It’s such a good opportunity. I love it every second\u2014it just brings me so much joy to be able to bring happiness and inclusion to my school.”<\/p>\n

Many participants say the relationships they’ve made have had a significant impact on their lives. “It’s good because it’s good to communicate with peers and friends and adults that want to join the walk, and it’s an amazing opportunity,” said Ketrina Bennett.<\/p>\n

All the money raised stays in the community to create more chapters and inclusive communities. “I hope people see the importance of including everyone in their communities, it makes us all better in every single way,” said Maloney.<\/p>\n

Thank you to WFVX for the event coverage![\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/i>WATCH the mission in action<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I love it every second\u2014it just brings me so much joy to be able to bring happiness and inclusion to my school.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2080,"featured_media":180640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"me-single-post.php","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1601],"tags":[4531],"yoast_head":"\nBest Buddies programs expanding across Bangor - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best Buddies programs expanding across Bangor - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""I love it every second\u2014it just brings me so much joy to be able to bring happiness and inclusion to my school."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-30T13:51:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-BBME-Bangor-Friendship-Walk-Mascot-Photo.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"leemosler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"leemosler\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e016e3c8c2cd3b7e04adf72b23efb560\"},\"headline\":\"Best Buddies programs expanding across Bangor\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-30T13:51:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-30T13:51:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/\"},\"wordCount\":466,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-BBME-Bangor-Friendship-Walk-Mascot-Photo.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"maine news\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Maine News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/maine\/best-buddies-programs-expanding-across-bangor\/\",\"name\":\"Best Buddies programs expanding across Bangor - 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