Samo Gives Back
Samo students rock the holiday season by giving back to the community. Both individuals and clubs have come together to make sure those less fortunate have a great holiday. Whether these students are feeding the homeless, collecting gifts for sick children or helping our veterans, the holiday spirit is in full swing at Samo. A handful of Samo students gave back to the Santa Monica community over Thanksgiving Break. Students such as Jacob Hammersly (’17), went to Veterans Administrations, a place that helps veterans at home financially and with other forms of assistance, to take donated goods such as clothing and foods and laid them out in an orderly fashion so veterans could take what they wanted. "I feel amazing whenever I’m volunteering. Seeing the smiles of the people in need is one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to go back next year and I can’t wait to make more people happy,” Hammersly said. Art for Heart, a year round charitable club that supports the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, will be collecting and donating holiday gifts and cards for sick children and their families this holiday season. "Art for Heart is a club dedicated to giving back year round. It's a rewarding experience to be able to help out children in need and see the smiles on their faces,” Art for Heart member Hanna Gratch said. According to club president Emily Krenik (’17), the holiday season is all about giving to the unfortunate. "Most of the children and their siblings spend the majority of their time at the hospital,” Krenik said. “We want to help them out and cheer them up by giving them games and such to have fun with." All of Samo’s houses are doing a fundraiser to help Samo families in need this holiday season. Families selected by each house sent in wish lists with requests big and small--from kitchen utensils to laptops--and the house offices are now accepting donations to fulfill as many of them as possible.“It’s a great program--this is our third year,” H-House Advisor Cam-An Navarro said. “There are a lot of parents who are eager to help out and some students have even made donations out of their own bank accounts.” Stop Hunger Now club helps the less fortunate by feeding them. In the holiday spirit, the club is giving back by volunteering at a local food pantry in Santa Monica. "Especially during holidays, it is important that homeless individuals are not hungry and get to enjoy good food," Kayla Casale (’16) said. Heart for Heart co-founded by Helen Lu (’16) strives to give to children in China who have undergone heart surgeries. This holiday season Heart for Heart has decided to collect school supplies for these sick children in Gansu China. “I feel like I’m able to help children who haven’t lived a life as privileged as me” Lu (’16) said. Founded by Israel Woldemariam ('17), the Make-A-Wish club fundraises for terminally ill children with cancer and other diseases. This holiday season, the club cooperated with Macy's Believe campaign. The club collected three hundred and sixty "Dear Santa" letters, a dollar each, and gave them to Macy's Believe campaign to raise money. A wish is about five thousand to eight thousand dollars each and the club hopes to raise enough for at least one wish by May 2016. "Make a wish is a great foundation and everyone knows about it. I saw their website and saw that we could install it into schools so I thought it was a great club that I would be proud of," Woldemariam said. Samo students and staff have celebrated the holiday season by going back but Justin Singh (‘16) is an exception. Singh has dedicated three years to giving back by volunteering at Share-a- Meal by collecting data about who comes into the shelter and who they’re feeding. “He is doing something very meaningful by helping care for community members that have ah hardships of various kids. That's doing good for other people in a very meaningful way but also as a humanitarian perspective,” Marine Biology teacher Benjamin Kay said.