All children who go to school hope to make new friends and be included. My daughters and I wanted to help foster friendships at school so for World Down Syndrome Day 2018, as one of our random acts of kindness, my daughters and I painted an old bench at our local elementary school to be a Buddy Bench.
By Kim and Sydney Warren
Who couldn’t use a friend?
All children who go to school hope to make new friends and be included. My daughters and I wanted to help foster friendships at school so for World Down Syndrome Day 2018, as one of our random acts of kindness, my daughters and I painted an old bench at our local elementary school to be a Buddy Bench.
We wanted to make a safe space for kids to sit where others would know that person might feel lonely and need to make a new friend or need the support from an old friend. Most of the children who went to that school with Sydney, my middle daughter who has Down syndrome, were amazing with her and made her feel included. We wanted to try to make sure all kids who go to school there felt the same way and never left out.
We painted it during our spring break. It was a labor of love for us. Sydney and I painted the base. We then all added our handprints and added the quote, “If you can be anything, be kind.” I wanted to make sure the students had a positive quote to see each day.
This spring break 2020 we were able to put a fresh coat of paint on the bench. It’s something we enjoyed getting to do together again!
Source: Warren Family