BRITTANY COLON

Brittany Colon, a 12-year-old from Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, started volunteering her time with the Buddy Ball Sports League for the handicapped when she was 10 years old. Brittany is a “Buddy” with the Buddy Ball Organization, which teams up healthy kids and young adults with those who have mental or physical disabilities to play sports. Brittany finds volunteering with Buddy Ball very rewarding. Her involvement with helping the handicapped motivated her desire to pursue a career in teaching the handicapped when she gets older.

The Buddy Ball program itself began in 1995 and has been helping youth in the tri-county area of New Jersey enjoy playing sports which they would not be able to do otherwise. Brittany has made some good friends through Buddy Ball and has even missed school dances and functions because they interfere with the Buddy Ball schedule. Despite being ridiculed in school, Brittany still chooses to do what she loves best, and that is helping others less fortunate than herself.

Buddy Ball does not compensate the children who participate or assist with the games. They simply do it on their own and shed a little bit of light on the life of others. Brittany was chosen as the international Amazing Kid of the Month for May, 2003 and will be the guest of her Congressman in Washington, D.C., for her involvement with Buddy Ball.

Brittany goes above and beyond the call of duty for young girls her age and makes Buddy Ball as one of her priorities, not something she merely fits in when convenient. Her commitment to Buddy Ball makes a difference in the community and in the lives of those who benefit from the Buddy Ball Organization. Without young people volunteering their time, the disabled in the area would not be able to play organized sports like those without disabilities.