Alix Neenan
Managing Editor

Patty McQuone, faculty advisor of Staples’ chapter of Best Buddies, was recently honored with the Best Buddies of Connecticut “2011 Outstanding Advisor of the Year” award. She will receive the award this July at a Best Buddies appreciation banquet in New Haven.

“I’m honored, but it’s funny because it’s something that I love doing so much, it’s not a job,” said McQuone.

McQuone has done immense amounts of work this year with the Best Buddies Program.

Best Buddies is an organization that is “dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Among other events this year, McQuone has coordinated movie trips, a silent auction, a bake sale that raised $1,700, and the annual Best Buddies Ball, a prom-like event with 280 people in attendance this year.

“Patty has definitely transformed Best Buddies. She puts all of her heart into this program and it really shows,” Sami Schwaeber ’12, the president of Best Buddies for the upcoming school year, said.

McQuone said that her interest in charity work stemmed from growing up with a deaf brother.

“It’s always been a passion of mine,” said McQuone.

McQuone said that students such as Schwaeber also deserve credit. “I don’t do it all,” she said.

However, Schwaeber says that McQuone does a lot of work, and is “always thinking about the ways we can improve the lives of the buddies… Can you tell that I love Patty?”