Buddy Bench Program To Be Extended To Middlesex Hospital

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Middlesex County's "Buddy Bench" program has been relaunched and the next bench is to be given to Middlesex Health.

It is slated to be unveiled at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown at 11 a.m. on Nov 21.

"The purpose of the newest Buddy Benches is to encourage everyone to support one another," organizers said.

In addition to the bench at Middlesex Hospital, there are plans for four more to be placed in other locations throughout the region.

The latest Buddy Benches have been built by Ian Young, the father of Nathan Hale-Ray High School student Connor Meaney Young, who lost his life in an automobile crash in 2021.
The idea to revive the Buddy Bench project – which started in 2009 as part of a No Bully Zone Program in public schools – stemmed from Liberty Bank's recent "Be Community Kind" advertising that features the role a bench has as a visual representation of community and a place where people come together.