A Buddy to All
Sammie Vance started a buddy bench project to help kids make friends.
Courtesy of Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project, www.sammiesbuddybenchproject.com
Sammie Vance is the founder of Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project.
Sammie Vance was 8 years old when she heard about buddy benches. She loved the idea.
“If someone is lonely, they can go sit on the bench and others know to go up and ask them to play,” was how she explained it, according to her website. Buddy benches have been placed at schools, in parks, and in other public places. They’re not just for kids. Adults sit on buddy benches sometimes too.
Sammie wanted to make sure there were plenty of buddy benches because she didn’t want anyone to feel lonely. So, in 2017, she started Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project. Her first goal was to get a buddy bench for her school. Six years later, the project has been a huge success, and it’s still going strong.
Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project collects plastic lids and bottle caps and sends them to a company to have the plastic recycled and turned into a bench. It takes 400 pounds (180 kilograms) of lids and caps to make each bench. That’s a lot! But Sammie worked hard. She asked her classmates and local businesses to save their caps. She also posted on social media, asking people to send their caps. In two months, Sammie collected 1,200 pounds (540 kilograms) of caps, enough for three benches! And the caps kept coming.
Today, Sammie’s project is responsible for more than 100 buddy benches in the U.S. as well as many other countries!
Courtesy of Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project, www.sammiesbuddybenchproject.com
Buddy benches are good places to meet new and old friends at school.
Sammie keeps finding new ways to spread kindness. As part of her project, she shows schools how they can collect caps to get their own buddy benches. And in 2021, she wrote a book called Inspire the World, about how people can make a difference in their communities.
