Events
Best Buddies UTK aims to have at least one event a month. However, we often have many more! On this page are just a few of the events we host annually, but we also host many other events throughout the year.
Chapter Meetings
The first Tuesday of every month we have our chapter meeting in the Student Union. This allows us to discuss upcoming events for the month and check in with members. We also play games and hangout with all our buddies.
Match Party
Every year in September we have our Match Party! This is where our buddy pairs get paired up and hang out for the first time.
Halloween Party
Every year in late October we host a Halloween Party to celebrate spooky season. Our members come dressed in their best costumes. In years past, we have partners with frats such as BYX, to celebrate the holiday!
Casino Night and Gala
Our biggest fundraiser of the year falls between October and November! At a venue, we all get together to eat dinner, dance to music, and play casino games with fake coins. Then we have our silent auction with items donated to our organization that anyone can bid on!
Friendsgiving
Best Buddies comes to celebrate what we are thankful for every November right before Thanksgiving break. We have a potluck and tons of activities to share our friendship
End of the Semester/Holiday Party
Right before finals, our chapter gets together one more time before we all head back home for break. We recap our semester and celebrate everything we have accomplished so far in the year!
Valentines Day Party
To share our love between Best Buddies, we all get together to enjoy Valentines Day with our friends.
Spread the Word Week
Advocacy is a huge part of Best Buddies. On the first Tuesday of March, National Spread the Word to End the Word is celebrated. We as a chapter get together the whole week to share with our community why the r-word needs to be ended.
Formal
This is our biggest party of the year! Our buddies get dressed in their finest and all come together for a dinner and dance together in the second semester.
Friendship Walk
Towards the end of the year our chapter gets together to host our own satellite Friendship Walk! This walk helps spread inclusion and awareness for everyone with an IDD.
End of the Year Party
The last event of the year is our end of the year party! We all get together to celebrate our friendships made throughout the year. We also give out awards to our members who went above and beyond during the year!