Winter Games Aspen Buddies

Buddies John & Wally greet the kids Buddies John & Wally greet the kids

This is an exciting volunteer program that we offer to you during our Winter Games Week. This program allows volunteers a chance to interact personally with a group of Shining Stars ready to help when the need arises. Typically each buddy is assigned 2 - 3 children, and helps the children through the week by calling them before they come to dispel any fears they might have, greet them on their arrival, and check in with them day to day to see how they're doing.

 

This is what it means to be a buddy:

Program Highlights

  • Usually 2 - 4 children are assigned per buddy group.
  • A Buddy can be one individual or a team with two people.
  • Ages, sex, and diagnosis of the kids may vary – we try to group by hospitals when possible.

Time Committment

  • Calling children prior to arrival to introduce yourself to child and parents.
  • A set of questions (checklist style) will be provided to you to get pertinent information we need for our files
  • Meeting children upon arrival to the Inn at Aspen. Help is needed to show the children where
    to find their rooms, luggage, storage cubby, orientation to the Inn layout, etc.
  • Checking in with the children, ski instructor, and nurse daily to see how they are doing and any
    special needs that might surface. (ie: medicine, homesick, clothing, special food)

 

For the most part, Buddies act as a "safety net" for the children during the week. In most cases, we want the children to have ample time to interact with each other and not be "pestered" or "mothered" by us boring adults. That's why we say a lot of our time is being spent as "flys on the wall" observing what's going on. However, quite often we have youngsters who, as you might expect, are not feeling well and might welcome a chance to just "hang out" with you for awhile in the activity room completing a puzzle, watching a movie, etc. This is purely an optional activity and in no way do we want you to construe that you need to be a "babysitter". You are an important element of a team player between the nurse, ski instructor, and child. Often times you are the last one who has spoken to the parent of the child prior to their coming with us. The most important requirement of this job is for you to enjoy yourself and your interaction with our whole group during the week. Our volunteers and buddy's often tell us after an event that this has been "the best week of their life". The more we give, the more we get back - it works!