THE MISS UNIVERSE ORGANIZATION GETS A BEST BUDDY
MIAMI, Florida and NEW YORK, New York - The Miss Universe Organization announced today its new partnership with Best Buddies, a worldwide nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendship and integrated employment. The new friendship will kick off on the evening of Sunday, April 9th with a "Ride the Ducks" tour around the Baltimore Inner Harbor, after which 53 Best Buddies chapter members will be paired up with "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's" Carson Kressley, Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA and each of the 51 Miss USA 2006 contestants. The tour will unload at the Baltimore Science Center, where all will enjoy dinner and a night of exploring the Science Center. The special evening is sponsored by Glyndon Baltimore Cleaners and the Baltimore Science Center.
"We are truly honored to make our friendship with Best Buddies official," says Paula Shugart, President of The Miss Universe Organization. "We have worked with Best Buddies unofficially over the last year and we have been overwhelmed by the work they do and the positive impact they have in the lives of so many people." Although working with Best Buddies is now an official cause for Miss Teen USA, all three titleholders (Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA) will work with the growing charity.
Founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, Best Buddies is a vibrant, international organization that has grown from one original chapter to more than 1,200 at middle school, high school, and college campuses around the world. "Our partnership with The Miss Universe Organization is a perfect fit because our organizations share common values of community service and inclusion. It is a huge asset to have such exceptional role models working with us to increase volunteerism and raise awareness for people with intellectual disabilities," says Anthony Shriver.
The Miss Universe Organization, producers of the MISS UNIVERSE®, MISS
USA® and MISS TEEN USA® Pageants, is a Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal
partnership. Utilizing its nationwide grass roots infrastructure, the Miss Universe Organization is committed to increasing awareness of breast and ovarian cancers by forging relationships with organizations committed to research and education, such as the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and Gilda's Club.
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PRESS CONTACTS:
NBC
Amanda Ruisi
Amanda.Ruisi@nbcuni.com
212-664-5478
The Miss Universe Organization
Lark-Marie Anton
lanton@missuniverse.com
212 373-4892
Esther Swan
eswan@missuniverse.com
212 373-4870
Erin Cooney
ecooney@missuniverse.com
212 373-4868