BW Buddy Benches

Have you ever been that kid on the playground, watching all the other kids having fun, while you stand to the side alone, wishing someone would ask you to play?  Have you ever been the new kid in school, surrounded by unfamilliar faces, feeling alone in the crowd?  Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to indicate to all the other kids "Hey, I just really want to play with someone."

It turns out someone did think of a way, The Buddy Bench.  Buddy Benches are showing up at school recess areas across the country.  They are specially decorated benches where a kid looking to make a friend will sit, and other kids at recess will invite them to play.  

A group of four kids from Whitehall Elementary School decided they wanted to bring the magic of the buddy bench to their school and their sister school McAnnulty Elementary School.  They have been working together to plan, design, build, advertise, and install the buddy benches.  

Thanks to a Lowes Home Improvement, all of the wood and paint were donated free of charge.  Even though the material has been paid for, the Buddy Bench kids did not want to stop at just building the benches.  The kids want the benches to be a source of pride for the students year after year.  

Therefore, we are looking to establish a maintenance fund so that the benches can be touched up, improved, or replaced year over year.  Each year a new committee of kids will be chosen to be in charge of the benches for that year.  

Your donation will allow future Buddy Bench caretakers to buy new paint, replace wooden planks, add more decorations, or whatever else they see fit to do.  

Buddy Benches don't work everywhere, but we are fortunate that we have a community and school district that puts a great value on being kind to one another.  We hope these Buddy Benches remain a beacon of that in our schools.

For more information on the Buddy Benches and information on the kids who are building them, please visit our Buddy Bench Website.