Who doesn’t need a friend?

Best Buddies, a nonprofit organization, provides one-on-one friendship and job opportunities to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The University’s chapter of Best Buddies College began four years ago, said Director Alaina Kemp, a senior from Evans. Thirty students volunteered at the organization this year, but Kemp is hoping to recruit 20 more for the spring.

“We’re always looking for more volunteers,” Kemp said Monday. “There are plenty of people waiting for a buddy. We’re trying to build up our membership.”

The organization was founded in 1989 and now has programs in all 50 states as well as 44 countries.

“It’s good to reach out to the community and in return, it reaches back,” Kemp said. “You change and enhance other people’s lives. Your buddy will never forget you.”

One University student joined the organization after seeing a poster during the Fall Activities Fair. As a special education major, Julie Saag said she was excited to have the opportunity to interact with her buddy and serve as the activities coordinator.

“She is very vocal and will start up a lot of conversations,” said Saag, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala. “I think it’s really important because it’s a nice release for the buddies. A lot of the time they’re only with their care taker or parents. It’s hard for them to get out and see other people and talk to other people, and that’s what they most look forward to.”

Sophomore Juaria Fletcher joined the organization because she wanted to be involved in something meaningful on campus.

“It’s great to connect with someone and feel like you’re doing something that’s worth their time and yours,” she said.

After meeting her buddy at a Chick-fil-A matching party, she said there was an “instant something” that enabled them to talk and connect as friends.

After being matched, students visit Hope Haven, a day home for people with developmental disabilities, to spend time with their buddy.

“Everyone that goes to Hope Haven has a sweet spirit about them. They hug you and ask how you’re doing,” Fletcher said. “They don’t have a reserved, guarded thing that people have when they don’t know people.”

After learning her buddy likes to paint, Fletcher said she plans to buy a canvas.

“I want to do things where he doesn’t feel like he’s being treated differently,” she said.

Students can volunteer to be matched with a buddy in the Athens area by visiting the organization’s Web site at www.bestbuddiesonline.org and clicking on the membership application for the University. Students can also e-mail Kemp at akemp1@uga.edu.