19th Annual Best Buddies Ball

The 19th Annual Best Buddies Ball: Celebrating New Friendships in the Alps: Austria, Germany and Switzerland will take place on Saturday, October 20, 2007. Each year close to 1,000 prominent local and international guests - including politicians, diplomats, journalists, sports figures and entertainment celebrities - gather at the home of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver in Potomac, Maryland.

Best Buddies is dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment. The Ball not only raises funds for programs but it also celebrates a particular part of the world with food, décor and entertainment indigenous to that region. This year it bears the Alpine theme: Celebrating New Friendships in the Alps: Austria, Germany and Switzerland. California Governor Arnold Schwarzengger has agreed to serve as Honorary Chair of the event with Austrian Ambassador Eva Nowotny, German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth and Swiss Ambassador Urs Ziswiler, serving as co-chairs.

A silent and live auction will be offered to raise money for Best Buddies an extraordinary program that affects 350,000 individuals annually. It is important to recognize that it is not just people with intellectual disabilities who benefit from it. Students and volunteers who participate in the program become adults who raise children with a new perspective based on compassion and integration. They become employers who understand the undeniable value of hiring people with disabilities. They become instrumental in an on-going effort to change the world, one friendship at a time.

For more information on becoming a sponsor of the event or on purchasing tickets for the Best Buddies Ball, see: www.BestBuddiesBall.org or contact Hilary Stephens at (202) 824-0349 or HilaryStephens@bestbuddies.org

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Buddy Jorge Morilla at the Best Buddies Ball