My best friend Brian called me last week and told me that he had something to donate to 366 Random Acts. Brian and his father are season ticket holders for the Chicago Bulls, and as such, they are entitled to some pretty cool events that are for season ticket holders. Brian had 2 passes to the Bulls "Sixth Man Jam" which is a pre-season event where fans get to both shoot hoops on the court of the United Center and interact with the players themselves. I was more than happy to use the tickets for a random act, but I wasn't sure exactly who to use them for. But then I got an idea. Since Brian is my best friend, I thought I would give the tickets to another pair of best friends. So I reached out to the Best Buddies Illinois. Best Buddies Illinois is an organization which helps to "create opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)." I spoke with Joanna from Best Buddies, and she instantly had a pair of buddies in mind. Otis Brown and his Best Buddy Garrett have spent the past 2.5 years forging a phenomenal relationship. Through their relationship, Otis has been able to have a best friend to share his hobbies (movies, bowling, working out) with, and has grown to become a Buddy Ambassador. As a Buddy Ambassador, Otis has been tasked with traveling to different schools to talk about the program and how important the program has been to him. So today, for my random act of kindness, I utilized the donation from my best friend to send a couple of other best friends to meet the Chicago Bulls. Tonight, Garrett and Otis will be rubbing elbows with Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and the other Chicago basketball stars.
That's so awesome. Best Buddies is such an amazing organization. It's growing too. Last year, finally a high school in Colorado set up a program. Great choice for a random act!
ReplyDeletethts so cool that there are people making such healthy contribution to society...
ReplyDeleteNot only are you doing 366 great random acts but the creative ways you find recipients is just above and beyond - congratulations to you on your success in this endeavor and for always keeping it interesting and real! I have been following you for a while and this blog gives me such inspiration every day. This story in particular really warmed my heart because my nephew has Pervasive Developmental Disorder (a form of Autism) - its great to see your random acts also spread out over such a broad spectrum of people:)
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