Best Buddies International is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment.

Founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, Best Buddies has grown from one chapter on one college campus to a vibrant, international organization. Our programs today reach all 50 of the United States, and Best Buddies has active international programs in Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, the Philippines and Sweden; with additional programs under development in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

e-Buddies is one of the six friendship programs offered by Best Buddies. e-Buddies seeks to build e-mail friendships between children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their peers who do not have intellectual disabilities.

Individuals with intellectual disabilities are matched in one-to-one e-mail friendships with non-disabled volunteers - matches are made based on age, gender, geography, and sharedinterests. Matched participants are asked to exchange e-mails once a week.

e-Buddies provides individuals with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to develop new friendships while learning valuable reading, writing, and computer skills in the process. On top of the obvious educational benefits, the impact of the building these friendships is immeasurable.

e-Buddies uses a sophisticated e-mail system, built on the E-mentoring Tool Kit platform developed by the MENTOR / National Mentoring Partnership, to facilitate our matches. This system provides several layers of security to help ensure the safety of our participants; it also allows our staff to track the progress of matches and maintain a high level of match quality.

With thousands of participants served since e-Buddies was officially launched in 2000, we envision e-Buddies as a model for many successful e-mentoring programs in the future.