“It is so freezing out there,” said Christina, her cheeks red and her nose running. She grabbed the hand of her Senior Buddy, “Let’s go do it again!” Christina and her mentor, Kristen, have only been matched for a couple of months, but Kristen knew better than to turn Christina down. They clipped their tubes to the tow and headed up the hill for another round. This was the first time tubing at Adventure Ridge for both of them and they were determined to take advantage of the experience.
Participating in Buddy Mentors is about cultivating the one-on-one relationship between the mentor and the mentee, but it is also about community, and a large part of our community is Vail Resorts. As part of an Epic Promise partnership, Junior Buddies (and their Senior Buddies) have multiple occasions throughout the year to access Vail Resorts in ways that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do.
Most recently was an Adventure Ridge tubing party. On a cold February evening, about 50 Junior and Senior Buddies rode up the Lionshead Gondola to spend a couple of hours racing down the slick tubing hills. Not only was this a great activity for buddy bonding, it was also a fun and out-of-the ordinary way to break up the school week and to step out of comfort zones. For the majority of both Junior and Senior Buddies present, this was their first time experiencing Adventure Ridge in the winter. Temperatures were cold and the snow was falling, but smiles were everywhere.
After a couple of hours of tubing, Kristen, Christina, and the rest of the Buddies headed inside to Eagle’s Nest for some pizza and salad. The whole evening was made possible through a partnership between Buddy Mentors and Vail Resorts Epic Promise. Through programs like the Buddy Mentors Program, Vail Resorts enriches the lives of hundreds of local youth a year.
Buddy Mentors of Bright Future Foundation offers one-on-one community mentoring. Adult volunteers (Senior Buddies) agree to meet with a local youth two to four times a month, for at least a year. To learn more about becoming a Buddy, please check out https://mybrightfuture.org/buddy-mentors/ or email rachel@mybrightfuture.org.
