Sammie’s on a mission to make the world a better place – and she’s not stopping anytime soon
Whether it’s helping kids in her school overcome their loneliness or sending smiles around the world, Sammie Vance is rebuilding the world, one idea at a time.
It all began with an idea for a ‘Buddy Bench’. Sammie wanted to put a brightly colored bench in the playground of her school, and if any kid was feeling lonely, they could go and sit on that bench and that would serve as a signal to other kids that they should invite them to play.
“I wanted to do it for my school because I’ve been lonely myself,” said Sammie, “and it’s not a good feeling so I didn’t want anyone else to feel that way.”
Anything that makes play easier and more inclusive sounds like a good idea to us, and when Sammie told her mother, Heidi, that she wanted a ‘Buddy Bench’, Heidi agreed. Together they found a company called Green Tree Plastics that took used bottle caps and turned them into benches. This would mean that two great things at once: the school would get its ‘Buddy Bench’ and it would be good for the environment.
The school principal agreed to the idea and Sammie was ready to get started. But now she needed bottle caps. A LOT of bottle caps!