Singer Collaborates with Best Buddies for Message of Inclusion

For the past several years, New York resident Rachel Lader has been preparing for a career in law. Since her teen years, Rachel Lader has supported the organization Best Buddies International.

Best Buddies is a nonprofit founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, son of the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, that focuses on helping children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It carries out this mission by facilitating friendships between this population and others as well as assisting with employment opportunities and inclusive activities.

Recently, Best Buddies partnered with singer Rebecca Black to create the song “Alone Together.” Involved with the organization since 2017, Black joined four teens who belong to the program — a singer, a violinist, a percussionist, and a disability-rights advocate. The song was the culmination of work in a Zoom collaboration in which everyone gave accounts of their personal experiences with disabilities and navigating the current pandemic.

Central to the song’s theme is the idea that, while everyone is incorporating social distancing as a public health measure, the community stands together, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Those interested in hearing the single can purchase it at Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, and Pandora. All proceeds go to support Best Buddies.