Bristol-Warren Student, Father Raise Money For Best Buddies With Online Pokémon Auction

BRISTOL-WARREN, RI — A Mt. Hope High School student and his father raised $19,600 for the Mt. Hope High School and Kickemuit Middle School Best Buddies programs.

By holding a Pokémon card auction fundraiser on the streaming app Whatnot, Adriano Coelho and his father, Chris Coelho, were able to raise the money.

Chris Coelho said he had been teaching his son about the importance of giving back to his community, so Adriano donated their earnings to the middle school and high school Best Buddies programs, giving each school's program $9,800.

School officials said Coelho's donation was done with the help of other streamers throughout the United States. The district thanked the following streamers:

• Scott Czaja
• Michael Wood
• Jamie Beran
• Marvin Robbins
• Britney Washburn.

Best Buddies International is a nonprofit, which consists of volunteers that create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The nonprofit allows volunteers to be paired up with a buddy with an intellectual and developmental disability and provide them with a friend or a mentor.

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