The Buddy Effect at St. Bonaventure University
By Emma Fox, ’22
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., Nov. 16, 2018 — For more than 40 years, St. Bonaventure University’s Bona Buddies program has paired local students from kindergarten to sixth grade with Bona students.
Connecting the campus to the community of Olean and its future generations, Bona Buddies is a youth mentoring program affiliated with seven local school districts.
Senior Haley Geis, a Bona Buddy coordinator and an education major, has been a member of the program since her freshman year at St. Bonaventure. As a coordinator, she helps with tasks ranging anywhere from organizing events and emails to buying snacks for the kids.
Geis sees the program as a perfect way to gain hands-on experience working with young students, especially for education majors.
“Bona buddies is just fun,” the Westchester County, N.Y., native said. “It’s happy and it’s made me into a better person because I’m not just in a classroom."
Bona Buddies operates under the oversight of St. Bonaventure’s Franciscan Center for Social Concern (FCSC).
The youth and Bona student pair generally meet once a week on the St. Bonaventure campus. On a given day, buddies will spend around a half hour bonding together before turning their attention to planned activities. Often, these activities engage different St. Bonaventure clubs and programs.
At the end of October, ENACTUS created a haunted house for the buddies in the Rathskeller, which is normally used for social events for university students. The house became a spooky adventure with different games and activities.
Other programs include The Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, which regularly meets with the kids and sets up activities like fitness courses or teaches them how to salute and march; and Canvas for a Cure, which lets the kids paint canvases that are donated to children with cancer.
On Nov. 27, the FCSC will be hosting a one-day fundraiser to raise money and awareness for this program and others like it. #GivingTuesdayatBonas is supporting the larger nation-wide “Giving Tuesday” movement, which is intended to be a way to encourage people to give to non-profit causes during the holiday season.
Many of the program’s first children are already college age. The program is still going strong with an ever-expanding network of school districts.
When looking to the future, Geis has strong hopes for the broadening of Bona Buddies’ horizon.
“The campus and community just love Bona Buddies, and it’s something I’m very proud to be working on,” Geis said. “St. Bonaventure is very big on community, and Bona Buddies does its part getting everyone involved.”
For more information about #GivingTuesdayatBonas, updates and to join in with a gift, visit www.sbu.edu/
