Love Is In The Air!

Friday October 28 was one fantastic day! Project team Buddies and College Buddies joined together and had a blast at the Love Inc. TV taping. We raised money for our organization and got to spend time as a group a long with getting to meet famous stars like HOLLY ROBINSON PEETE ,BUSY PHILIPPS , VINCE VIELUF , REAGAN GOMEZ-PRESTON, ION OVERMAN , and RICK FOX. Thanks to everyone who made this event a success. The episode airs Thursday, November 3, 8:30PM ET/PT "Hope & Faith" When Clea admits that her ex-husband accused her of not being spontaneous, the Love, Inc. staff tries to make her live more in the moment. Rick Fox (Los Angeles Lakers) guest stars as David, one of Clea's dates that ended horribly. Meanwhile, after a past bad experience with animals, Denise must pretend to like them when she finds her herself attracted to a handsome veterinarian.

My One on One Outing With Hugo

On Sunday, October 23 and Saturday, October 29, Hugo and I had our one on one outings. We went shopping at Tyler Mall and bought a couple of things. The greatest part was stopping by the food court and eating together! Yesterday, we went the the Monte Carlos dance at the A and I dorms, and we had so much fun dancing! I feel like I really got to know Hugo better, even after being buddies for a year.

Anna Nguyen

Ability Awareness Training

We had our Ability Training on Monday, October 10 at 5pm by Eldon Rynders, our dedicated Host Site Coordinator! We are delighted that our guests from this meeting Andrew Pham, Khoa Pham, and Brian Ngo, became members! We educated our volunteers about different types of developmental disabilities, provided coaching on relating to individuals with disabilities, and trained them on sensitivity. The program aimed to help the college volunteers develop an appreciation for the lives of people with disabilities, as well as attain the knowledge and confidence to initiate their new friendships. Thank you all for attending!

Bus Tours!

On Saturday, October 22, we had our bus tours. The bus tours were designed to help college buddies who do not have cars to learn how to use public transportation. It was a fun experience!
Thank you Cassandra Forrest, Mohammad Abdel-al, and Anna Nguyen for attending! Also, special thanks to our bus tours leader, Khoa Pham.

~Best Buddies

This Summer's Recruitment Fairs!

Here are some pictures of the recruitment fairs that we did this summer. Thank you all for joining. Enjoy!

SPAGHETTI SUCCESS!!!

First of all we would like to thank everyone who came out and made the
Spaghetti Factory a huge success. A huge shout out to all
the officers, buddies, college buddies and associate members
and guests who attended. It would not be possible without
your contributions. It was an honor to see
more than 50 people at the Spaghetti Factory Matching
Social! All the members took an oath, the highlander came
by and interviewed a couple of people (watch out for the article on Oct 25), and people received
lots of great raffle prizes!!! Don't worry if you buddy
didn't come to the Spaghetti Factory. If you are still interested in becoming a member please email us at Best_Buddies_Riverside@yahoo.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

TV Taping October 28, 2005 (Friday)

Next Meeting!
Wednesday, November the 9th @ 7pm

And now......ta da da da..PICTURES

Heidi Morey-Our Program Manager

Heidi Morey is our easygoing and understanding Program Manger. She oversees all chapters in the western region. Before coming to Best Buddies international, she worked as a fundraising director for Grassroots Campaigns Inc. and was responsible for funds raised in the last presidential election. Her drive to commit change and dismantle apathy also drove her to join AmeriCorps and has led her to many adventures in public speaking about national service. Her commitment to resolving environmental issues led her to attain a degree from U.C. Berkeley in Integrative Biology and encouraged her to work in the field of environmental restoration. She has used her education as a spring board to compose grants, write children's books,and teach in the Calfifornia public school system. Better yet, she volunteers as a clown in her free time because she loves kids! We love you Heidi! Who else has a Program Manager as fun as you?

Dr. Jan Blacher-Our Faculty Advisor

Dr. Jan Blacher is our Faculty Advisor for the 2005-2006 year. She works as a liaison between campus administration and the chapter. She has helped us tremendously in publicizing our organization throughout the graduate school of education. Dr. Blacher received her Ph.D. in Special Education/Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently Professor of Education and Faculty Chair of the Graduate School of Education. Dr. Blacher is frequently asked to appear as an Expert Witness in contested cases involving right-to-education suits for children with autism, mental retardation or other learning disorders. She has written extensively on such topics as: out-of-home placement of children and young adults with severe disabilities and relationship between family functioning and mental retardation. Dr. Blacher is an independent women, dedicated to what she believes in. She volunteers her time with Best Buddies despite her busy schedule and she is greatly appreciated! We are so honored to have Dr. Blacher as our faculty advisor!

Eldon Rynders-Our Host Site Coordinator

Once again, Eldon Rynders, is our Host Site Coordinator! He works as a liaison between buddy pairs and provides ongoing information, education, and training. Eldon received his Masters of Divinity years ago. He recently received his Masters of Teaching in Special Education at California Sate San Bernardino. He's been working with Best Buddies for four years, and this is his seventh year as a lecturer at Project Team, the site with which Best Buddies at UCR is affiliated. Eldon has worked for six and a half years as a Case Manager at Ability Counts, which is a sheltered workshop for people who have intellectual disabilities. Eldon is a very patient person, someone that you can always count on. Eldon volunteers his time for Best Buddies out of the goodness of his heart and we really appreciate his devotion!!!

International Leadership Conference

What a lucky gal! Anna Nguyen attended theInternational Leadership Conference in Bloomington Indiana at the University of Indiana from July 22, 2005-July 25, 2005. She met her fellow college leaders from around the world who are making change. At the leadership conference, the College Buddy Directors were instructed in ways to manage their chapters, recruit new members, and work effectively with other participants in this chapter. This year the Western region includes 20 committed chapters in California, two committed chapters in Colorado, and 1 committed chapter in Oregon. Each College Buddy Director also received their individual chapter goals and the goals of the College Program which they are working hard to achieve. Not to mention Anna hung out with Maureen McCormick, T.V.'s Marsha Brady (in green shirt) and Anthony Shriver (in red shirt), the founder of Best Buddies!

Interesting Facts About Her Experience

• Very Humid!
• Met Ken and Kendra Holden, siblings (who have intellectual disabilities) of VP of international Best Buddies David Quilleon
• Met Katie Meade, official spokesperson (who has an intellectual disability) for the Special Olympics national "Make the Point!" promotion
• There are cemeteries here and there on that campus!
• They also have a hotel there, yes a hotel!
• Met cool people from around the world, including Spain, Egypt, and Ireland!
• Gigantic campus, and so much greenery! They even have a pond and a creek~!
• No Cosco in Indiana. They have Osco!~

This July, we hope to take a buddy along with us or perhaps one of our advisors!

Local Leadership Conference

We had our local leadership conference at Fairfax High School of Los Angeles on Saturday, September 24, 2005 from 10am to 4pm. We learned how to become a successful Best Buddies Chapter! The officers that attended included Stephanie Do, our Treasurer, Johnny Haines, our Buddy Director, and Anna Nguyen, our College Buddy Director. Other college buddy directors from the Western region also attended, and our Program Manger (Best Buddies staff member who oversees all college chapters in the western region) Heidi Morey did a superb job with leading the workshops! Go Heidi (in the blue polo shirt)! This leadership conference provided us with much motivation and enthusiasm for our unlimited chapter this year~!

UPCOMING EVENTS!!!

Ability Awareness Training
Monday, October 10, 2005

Spaghetti Factory Matching Party
3191 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, California 92507
Sunday October 16, 2005 11:30am
TV Taping October 28, 2005 (Friday)
Love, Inc. about a savvy matchmaker
Celebrity Softball Game
Saturday, October 29th
Game Time: 11am

Best Buddies Information

Our international mission is to enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing one on one friendships and integrated employment. A majority of the students that Best Buddies works with have mental retardation, down syndrome, or autism.

There are three ways to get involved.

College Buddy: A college student who commits to a one to one friendship with a person with intellectual disabilities for one academic year. Must see his/her buddy twice a month and contact his/her Buddy once a week and attend group activities. If you don't have a car and would still like to be a college buddy, we can work with you. Just let us know.

Associate Member: Provides chapter support as needed, but is not matched in a one to one friendship. Participates in chapter events, meetings, committees, and group outings

e-Buddies: e-Buddies creates email friendships between people with and without intellectual disabilities. Is paired with a person from another state.

BLOCK PARTY WAS A SUCCESS!

The Block Party was a success! We had many volunteers, including Nina Grewal, Stephanie Do, Sara Phung, Tiffany Aman, Anna Nguyen, Christopher Rivera and buddies Hugo Rosales and Johnny Haines! It was also great seeing familiar faces: Noelle Tabios and Matthew Granum. Thank you all for being there!