Relaunching the Buddy Bench Program through Community Partnership

A Buddy Bench is a special place – far more than just a bench – where friends and neighbors can take a few moments to sit, relax, and enjoy a conversation. It has the power to connect people of all ages and  experiences. So where did the idea of a Buddy Bench come from?

In 2009 CFMC’s Council of Business Partners, in partnership with the Interfaith Golf Tournament and Rushford Prevention Services, established the No Bully Zone Program and later expanded it to the Campaign for Bully-Free Communities. Then in 2017, a new partner joined the Campaign, Rushford’s Residential Treatment Program for Adolescents Boys. The students at the Residential Treatment Program designed and built the first wooden benches for local elementary schools to help eliminate loneliness and foster friendship on playgrounds throughout Middlesex County.

Over the years, Buddy Benches have connected peers and spread smiles in Middlesex County and just this week, a team of longtime community partners in Middlesex County came together to relaunch the Buddy Bench program on the campus of Middlesex Hospital.

The partnership includes Liberty Bank, Community Foundation of Middlesex County (CFMC), the Connor Meaney Young Memorial Fund at CFMC, the Council of Business Partners at CFMC, Interfaith Golf Tournament Committee, and Middlesex Health. The latest Buddy Benches, which is the first of five, have been built by Ian Young, the father of Nathan Hale-Ray High School student Connor Meaney Young who tragically lost his life in an automobile accident in 2021. The lumber for the five benches was donated by the Rossie Group.

Chris Ann Meaney, Connor’s mother, shared some remarks at the latest Buddy Bench Presentation.

“…Ian and I have the honor of being Connor Meaney Young’s parents. Connor lived a short and meaningful life that was rooted in noticing the needs of others and showing genuine kindness. From blowing the leaves of our elderly neighbor, to volunteering at the local nursing home, to buying fellow students lunches at school, to building his own company at 14 years old to care for community members’ yards….Connor was a giver at heart…

Ian was excited to participate in Liberty Bank’s reboot of the Buddy Bench initiative because it aligned with Connor’s mission of noticing and bringing more light into this world…”

Connor had a mission of “noticing and bringing more light into this world”, as Chris Ann shared. This Buddy Bench is a place for kindness, community, laughter, and remembrance – with the goal of bringing more light into his world – in honor of Connor.

Relaunching the Buddy Bench project in Middlesex County stemmed from Liberty Bank’s recent “Be Community Kind” campaign that features the role a bench has as a visual representation of community and a place where people come together. The Liberty Bank Foundation also contributed $10,000 to the Connor Meaney Young Memorial Fund at CFMC.

In addition to the bench at Middlesex Hospital, four more will be installed at other locations in Middlesex County, including the Portland Riverfront, ballfields in East Haddam and two other locations still to be identified.

A Round of Applause to all who have made this partnership possible and are “Buddying Up for Positive Change.” You truly are building a Better Today and Brighter Tomorrow for all in Middlesex County. 

 

Media Coverage:

Middletown Patch (pre-event): Buddy Bench Program To Be Extended To Middlesex Hospital

Middletown Patch (post-event): Buddy Bench Program Officially Re-Launched At Middlesex Hospital

WTNH News 8 (Online): ‘Buddy Bench’ program relaunches in Middlesex County

WTNH News 8 (YouTube): ‘Buddy Bench’ program relaunches in Middlesex County

WTIC-AM 1080 – Brian & Company – Drive time at 7:20 am: Buddy Benches

Yahoo! News (WTNH Pick-up): ‘Buddy Bench’ program relaunches in Middlesex County

MSN (WTNH Pick-up): ‘Buddy Bench’ program relaunches in Middlesex County