Bona Buddies, the largest youth mentoring program in Cattaraugus County, connects SBU students with children from the local area. The children visit campus to meet with their mentors and engage in various activities with student clubs.

Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, things looked a little different than previous years. During the summer of 2020, our student coordinators did a wonderful job designing a virtual and socially-distant program so that Bona Buddies could continue throughout those uncertain times. Every month, we delivered activity bags to the homes of our buddies and had our mentors write the children letters.

With appropriate health and safety regulations in place, we have been able to bring our buddies back on campus this year! Since we have so many enthusiastic college students wanting to join this wonderful program, each buddy now has two mentors whom they are so excited to see each week.

For many children around the area, Bona Buddies provides them with a role model, friend, and someone to depend on. Bona Buddies is an amazing program that truly makes a difference, and we hope to continue the program for many years to come!