Members of the registered student organization Best Buddies will celebrate its commitment to friendship with The Buddy Ball, its biggest event of the year, on Sunday.

Anne Keane, a sophomore special education major and the house coordinator of Best Buddies, said The Buddy Ball is the last event of the year to celebrate everything they have done.

“The EIU chapter of Best Buddies is a part of a worldwide organization that pairs up special needs people up with buddies, such as college students, to form one-on-one friendships,” Keane said.

She said Eastern’s chapter is composed of about 70 college buddies, each of whom has his or her own buddy.

“I got involved as a freshman because one of my friends ran it and last year I was just a regular college buddy,” Keane said. “There are about 70 of us and most of us are special (education) majors.”

Keane said in addition to aiding in the meeting of the buddies, the group facilitates about one event each month.

Last semester, the group hosted a Halloween-themed event.

“And one of our events last month was our Spread the Word to End the Word pledge day to end the use of the ‘r’ word.” Keane said. “The Buddy Ball is basically our last hurrah for everything we’ve done this year.”

Keane said The Buddy Ball is a closed event and members each chose five people they wanted to send invitations to for the event.

The Buddy Ball is from noon to 3 p.m. in the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Keane said they also invited the special education department faculty.

“The Buddy Ball is a formal lunch and there will also be a raffle and dancing,” Keane said. “Mainly we get to dress up and socialize and socializing is one of the main goals of the organization.”

Keane said she has learned a lot from being a part of the organization and looks forward to next year.

“I have definitely learned the value of friendship, it’s not something a lot of people easily understand,” Keane said. “I’ve learned so much more from the buddies than I feel they can learn from me.”

Amy Wywialowki can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].