Sammie Vance, 14, knows there's nothing worse than feeling left out. For years, she's been helping kids who feel lonely make friends.
What she was doing was running the Buddy Bench(伙伴长 椅 )program. She started it when she was in the third grade, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The idea was that anyone at school who was feeling lonely could sit on the"buddy bench". That let other kids know someone needed a friend. "It's really helpful to have other people be able to notice you, "Sammie says.
The idea quickly caught on (流行起来). The bench brought kids together. Since then, Sammie has helped communities all over the country set up buddy benches. "It means a lot to me, "she says, and this is making a difference in people's lives. "
Sammie got the idea for the Buddy Bench program at summer camp in 2017. She thought it would be cool to have a buddy bench in her school, so when she got home, she presented the idea to her principal(校长), her teachers, and her parents.
Getting approval(批准)for the project was just the first step. "There have been a lot of small challenges, like money, "Sammie says.
To reduce costs and be eco-friendly(环保的), she asked her community to collect bottle caps. Soon Sammie was getting caps from people in 50 states. She even got them from people in Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries. In the end, she collected more than 1, 200 pounds of bottle caps. A company was able to make these into three benches.
Sammie says the effort has helped her overcome personal challenges. "I used to be really, really shy, "she says. I'm much more outgoing now. What Sammie's work shows is that we don't have to be an adult to make a difference. Even small acts of kindness can be powerful. She says, "Just be kind, in general. "
