Every Tuesday, leading up to Giving Tuesday which is November 30, I will be sharing different Giving Tuesday Spark chapter leaders and their projects. The goal of these episodes is to show the audience members all the different projects you can get involved with. For the first episodes in this series Samantha Vance is sharing her project. Check out this episode to find out how you can get involved in her project.
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Website: https://sammiesbuddybenchproject.com/
Instagram: @sammiesbuddybenchproject
Facebook: Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project
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Samantha “Sammie” Vance is 12 years old and, on a mission, to make the world a less lonely place starting with making sure all kids have a friend. She wants to spread kindness wherever she goes.
She has gained worldwide attention through her project where she collected plastic caps and lids and had them recycled into buddy benches for her school and all around the country. It has impacted and inspired many from kids to adults.
Sammie received a Certificate of Excellence from her cities Mayor, been a guest on the Today Show with Kathie Lee, Nightly News with Lester Holt, covered by Martha Stewart Living, USA Today to name a few. She has over 40 million views on numerous videos done on her, including one of them tweeted about by Reese Witherspoon. She has partnered with Walgreens and UPS who wanted to help her continue to spread kindness.
She has won multiple International Awards including and an award named for her. Most recently she won the Diana Award, Gloria Barron Prize for Inspiring Young Heroes and Prudential Spirit of Community Award. She has been in magazine publications such as Bravery and Highlights and even in magazines in the UK and as far as Australia.
She wants to write books to inspire others to be kind and make a difference. Her debut book “Inspire the World: A Kid’s Journey to Making a Difference” will be released August 24, 2021, by Clear Fork Publishing.
Sammie lives in Indiana and is in Middle School. Her favorite subject is math, and she loves pizza, DIY crafts, writing poems, and meeting new people. She loves receiving mail from all over the country and the world. She is a Giving Tuesday Sparks Leader and involved in various groups to support and inspire youth. She has recently co created a group called World Changers geared at young women to encourage them that they can make a difference no matter their age. Sammie does a weekly podcast called Sammie Smiles where she interviews people from all walks of life. It is geared towards leaving her listeners and guests inspired and with a smile.