{"id":11330,"date":"2023-06-13T14:14:49","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T18:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=11330"},"modified":"2023-06-15T10:12:19","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T14:12:19","slug":"sams-warriors-wield-the-power-of-will-to-help-others-with-unwavering-commitment-to-a-worthy-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/sams-warriors-wield-the-power-of-will-to-help-others-with-unwavering-commitment-to-a-worthy-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam\u2019s Warriors wield the power of will to help others with unwavering commitment to a worthy cause"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Sam Sachs with his family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

-Svetla Tomanova<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2020, everyone was bracing for the unknown enemy: COVID. Sam Sachs, Old Donation School (ODS) and his family were grappling with the news of his diagnosis: T-cell leukemia. What followed were numerous intensive care unit and oncology hospitalizations \u2013 nine in total. He was only 12 at the time, but he had his family by his side, while other children, he observed, were there alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis all started in the hospital when I saw a 1-year-old child without her family,\u201d said Sam.<\/p>\n

Her door had to be open so that she could have interactions with the nursing staff. Having his parents gave him the will to fight, he said. At that moment, Sam decided to find a way to have children with their parents in the hospital all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Sam was in the fight of his life, his caring for others was paramount in his thoughts,\u201d said Jane McClellan, ODS counselor and Sam\u2019s Warriors advisor. \u201cSam\u2019s positive attitude and his focus on a plan to help others may have been the key ingredient for his healthy outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\u201cPie-in-the-Face Challenge\u201d \u2013 Students bid to hold a whipped cream pie and push it on a teacher\u2019s face. The student with the highest bid \u2013 wins the honor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soon after he was cancer-free, Sam\u2019s Warriors was born. There was no doubt that the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) would be the recipient of any funds that the club would raise.<\/p>\n

Committed to making a positive impact, Sam organized several fundraisers such as such as pie-in-the-face challenges and a recent skating event. He found a way to include both children and parents in raising money to reunite families in the hospital.<\/p>\n

Fundraisers take a lot of time and effort, he said. Sam is thankful for ODS teachers who advertised the announcements to spread the word. Also, there is a dedicated group of Sam\u2019s Warriors club members who meet regularly to help plan the fundraisers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hosted the first round allowing students to pie ODS staff, which raised about $7,000,\u201d Sam said.<\/p>\n

The success of the event and the inspiration from the popular Ice Bucket Challenge propelled the initiative onto social media, where they challenged their friends and families.<\/p>\n

Last month, their recent fundraiser attracted 200 attendees and raised $4,600.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cSam is an inspiration to kids and adults,\u201d said ODS Principal Joel Guldenschuh. \u201cI\u2019m glad we can support his work as a school community. He has encountered more obstacles than I can imagine, and he handles it and uses it to do good in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initiative is already helping children in CHKD: Sam\u2019s Warriors had raised about $100,000. It provides paid time off for parents or enables families to hire babysitters, to ensure they can be with their children during their hospital stay. The goal is one day to start in-hospital childcare to continue to harness the power of will to make a difference.<\/p>\n

Sam may be moving on from ODS, but he is confident \u201cthere are enthusiastic and dedicated kids who will carry on with this club.\u201d\u00a0 He plans to bring this club to his new school \u2013 Cape Henry Collegiate.<\/p>\n

For more on how to help Sam\u2019s Warriors initiatives, visit this page.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\u201cThank you for helping children in need,\u201d said Sam.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
This poster was shared on Facebook, and it was also shared on the school\u2019s morning announcements, along with hand-made posters by the club members.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Skating event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

-Svetla Tomanova In 2020, everyone was bracing for the unknown enemy: COVID. Sam Sachs, Old Donation School (ODS) and his family were grappling with the news of his diagnosis: T-cell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11330"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11344,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11330\/revisions\/11344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}