Best Buddies' mission is to build one-on-one friendships between college students and people with disabilities in the Auburn-Opelika area.
Students Jack Clem and Lydia Wiedetz, who serves as president of Best Buddies, and alumna Katie Pinkert shared their experiences being involved in Best Buddies.
Clem, senior in political science, has been involved with Best Buddies for two years now. He talked about how he heard about the organization, knew of some people who did it and thought it would be something he would like to be involved in.
Wiedetz, senior in speech, language and hearing sciences, has been a member for all four years of college and talked about how she first got involved.
“I entered as a freshman during COVID. I was just scrolling on AUInvolve and saw Best Buddies. I was just in my room trying to find something to do, and I was just looking for organizations to apply to,” Wiedetz said. “When I found Best Buddies on AUInvolve, I read through their mission statement and did some research on the organization.”
Wiedetz talked about how she fell in love with their mission and what they were inspired to do in Auburn as well as around the world. She said she had been with the same buddy for the past two years and that they had really impacted her life. Then, Wiedetz talked about what really got her inspired to join an organization like this one.
“I have worked with people with disabilities my whole life. I grew up going to a camp for people with disabilities, and we would do a lot of activities with them. I would also volunteer at my school and do Night to Shine through the Tim Tebow Foundation,” Wiedetz said.
She continued by saying how she has always been exposed to people with disabilities, and Best Buddies is something that she has always wanted to be involved in at Auburn.
Katie Pinkert, alumna who majored in rehabilitation and disability studies, was involved with the organization for her four years at Auburn. She heard about Best Buddies in a different way and got involved.
“I was involved in the therapeutic programs for the City of Auburn and was an aide in a special education class. During this time, everybody raved about Best Buddies. I even recall looking up if I could join while still in high school. I was extremely excited about joining,” Pinkert said.
Clem, Pinkert and Wiedetz talked about what makes Best Buddies special to them.
“It’s just finding another way to serve the Auburn community, and by being involved in a thing like Best Buddies, you have a unique and meaningful way of connecting with others that you may not connect with originally,” Clem said.
Wiedetz said she loves that Best Buddies provides a smaller community within a larger community. The members are always surrounded by the same group of people ranging from 18- to 23-years-old while the buddies are 19-years-old and older.
"Coming from out of state, it’s been fun to learn about what the Auburn-Opelika area used to be like and get the buddies' perspective on what it’s been like growing up around the area," Wiedetz said.
Wiedetz explained how there are two college members to a buddy. She has also been getting to bond with the other college member that she shares the same buddy with, and it is like they have become a "small family."
Pinkert talked about what makes Best Buddies special to her.
“Best Buddies breaks down barriers in allowing for personal growth at such a young age and advocacy to promote the inclusion of all individuals,” Pinkert said. “Best Buddies means laughter until your belly hurts; the best hugs in the world; an unexplainable amount of love as well as joy in the purest form.”
Wiedetz talked about what tasks she does within her role as president.
“Throughout the year, I’m responsible for putting on our events and helping the rest of the executive team delegate tasks as well as making sure they feel supported through me. A lot of it is contacting the parents of our buddies since we do have outside reach into the community. I do a lot of talking with their parents and also with them,” Wiedetz said.
The parents have Wiedetz’s number and contact her frequently. Another part of her job, she stated, is to help the parents feel supported by her and the executive team.
Clem talked about what Best Buddies events look like.
“We have our annual Halloween and Christmas parties, and then we have a matching party. A matching party is where college students meet their buddy for the first time,” Clem said. “We also do events that are in season, like for example a March Madness party.”
Pinkert noted that their Halloween party was a favorite event of hers.
“Halloween was always one of my favorites getting everyone dressed up, matching their buddies and going around to all of the sororities to trick-or-treat,” Pinkert said.
For more information about Best Buddies, visit the Best Buddies official website.
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