Active Members of February~!

College Buddy Pair: Brian Ngo and Charles Beard!

From the first day we met Brian at our Intellectual Ability Awareness Training, we knew that there was something special about this warm college buddy. He has been buddies with Charles since October and we know the great lengths that Brian goes to make sure his buddy makes it to events. The one on one activities that Brian and Charles participate in include playing video games, watching television at Charles' house, and celebrating Charles' birthday in February! We can see from the way Brian interacts with Charles at the Spaghetti Factory Matching Party that there is a very special sort of friendship between them. Just seeing Brian and Charles together at the March bash, the gigantic smiles on both of their faces, and their one to one exploration of the USC campus, we know that they set a great example of a friendship without boundaries. As you can tell, these people are deeply enriching each others lives! Brian has participated in activities this year, including the January Dance, selling Valentine Cards, the Matching Party, the Martin Luther King Run, the March Bash, and a majority of our meetings.


Charles Beard has been active with Best Buddies for a few years. He has always been a very charismatic person, but it was not until this school year that we see Charles so happy and sociable! The reason? Brian has made such a positive impact on Charles....It is unbelievable! Charles has participated in the December Dance of 2004 and the June 2005 Santa Monica Beach Trip. At the recent January dance, he really surprised us with his dancing skills, not to mention the beat boxing lessons he gave us during the recent Friendship Walk.

You two exemplify a type of friendship that fulfills the purpose of the mission of Best Buddies, and with that, we are very grateful that we have a college buddy who is so patient and a buddy who is so sweet.

Associate Member of February: Robert Karras!

It is such a pleasure to recognize one of our newest members, Robert Karras, as the active member of February! Robert became an official member in February, but he's already been to our January Dance and February Basketball Game. We really have to thank Robert again for securing a business donation of $400, which helped us a lot in achieving our goal of raising at least $1000 for the March Bash. Robert also really wanted to go to the March Bash, but could not attend due to employment that day. Thank you Robert for everything you do!

Remember at the end of the year we will pick the college buddy, buddy, and associate member of the year! We will only be picking from the pool of active members that we recognize every month.