USU ‘Best Buddy’ pair to ride in California
A Utah State University Best Buddy pair will be highlighed by CBS during a bike race to raise awareness about the Best Buddies program.
Brock Anderson, a senior majoring in marketing and director of the USU chapter of Best Buddies, will bike tandem with his Best Buddies partner, Steven White, Saturday. The bike race is located in California and covers 100 miles, April Ricks, programs manager of Best Buddies, said.
“It is just a great opportunity to promote Best Buddies and to have an opportunity for Steven and I to do something fun and hang out,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he became interested in the bike race and discussed participating with White. Best Buddies International is hosting an inaugural bike race in California and Anderson said he and Steven were chosen to be the media buddy pair. This entails CBS documenting their experience before and during the race, Ricks said.
“You’ll see his smile. He is so excited about it,” Anderson said about White.
CBS followed White and Anderson Wednesday to experience their day-to-day interaction, Ricks said. During the race, CBS will have a cameraman on a motorcycle follow the pair during the race and also attach a “lip-stick cam” on both White and Anderson to record their interactions together, Ricks said.
“This is pretty special for us, and pretty exciting for Brock and Steven to share their story with the rest of the world,” Ricks said.
Celia White, Stevens mother, said Steven has lived on his own and she doesn’t want to “interfere with any independence he has learned.”
Both of her sons work at USU and she said she is “grateful to have the university.”
“This Best Buddies program is totally awesome,” Celia said. “Brock takes him to fraternities for activities and kept in touch with him over the summer.”
Celia said this is an amazing experience for Steven.
“This is totally awesome, my only disappointment is I can’t go there,” she said. “It’s all [Steven] talks about.”
Having CBS document this experience is a positive thing for Best Buddies, Ricks said.
“[This will] show the rest of the world what people with intellectual disabilities are capable of and the friendships they can create,” she said, “and the wonderful people that they are.”
The USU chapter of Best Buddies has more than 40 buddy pairs, Anderson said, however, more people are involved in the organization. Best Buddies provides friendships with intellectually impaired individuals, he said. The 2004-05 goal for the USU chapter is to expand into the community and increase their involvement, Anderson said.
Best Buddies started in Utah in 1991, Ricks said, and shortly after started at USU, Brigham Young University, Weber State University and the University of Utah.
Best Buddies International hosts an annual bike race on Cape Cod to increase awareness and donations to the program, Ricks said. To race in the California race, non-disability members have to pay a registration fee of $1,500 minimum, she said. The money is donated to the organization on state and national levels.
Anderson and Steven’s registration fee and travel expense were taken care of by the organization, Ricks said.
The number of registered participants is unknown at this time.
“The funds Brock and Steven have raised will go the Utah chapter,” Ricks said.
The pair left Thursday, races Saturday and will return Sunday night.
-kcashton@cc.usu.edu