Just because you live on the Eastside, doesn’t mean you have what you need.
That sentiment is at the heart of why SAMMI recipients Angela Shi and Julie Siefkes do what they do.
Shi, a 10th-grader at Skyline High School in Sammamish, received the Youth Spirit award at the 15th annual SAMMI Awards Foundation event Saturday for her efforts with the Students Affirming Gender Equality, or SAGE, Club.
“We try to encourage students to fight apathy and to recognize the gender barrier going on in our community and around the world,” she said. “It’s very important to recognize that gender equality hasn’t been achieved yet, but it will.”
Through various programs the SAGE Club initiates, like the one that brings keynote speakers to local schools, Shi hopes young people will learn from the experiences of others who have had to overcome gender barriers.
The SAGE Club also collaborates with service organizations to raise money and collect items for students in need, such as putting together student care packages during the holiday season.
Another initiative, called the Cinderella Project, gathers free student formal wear for the prom and homecoming season.
“A lot of people think that just because we’re on the plateau, that we have everything we want,” she said. “Just seeing that something we take for granted can make someone’s night is really great. It isn’t just in third world countries or in poor communities, it can be in your own community that people don’t have what they need.”
In that same vein, SAMMI recipient Siefkes was honored for her work in helping local students and families in need.
Siefkes chairs the Issaquah High School Angel Program, a program that allows students to shop for basic necessities once a week. There is also an application process through which students can apply for dance tickets or status items like a popular athletic bag.
“It covers, for the most part, our free and reduced lunch students at the high school,” she said. “At Issaquah High School, which is an affluent school, it’s very challenging to be low-income. You just want to fit in. You just want to be like everyone else. When your family’s struggling to put food on the table, it’s very challenging.”
The program, in its fifth year, also helps provide other needs, like a homecoming or prom dress.
“The teen years are stressful,” she said. “I know from my teaching background, not all kids come from functioning, healthy, involved parenting.”
Recently, the program has expanded to include bus passes, tool kits and uniforms to help students find employment. Students attending Liberty and Eastlake high schools have also started Angel programs on their campuses, Siefkes said.
“We’re not changing their lives, but we’re making their day-to-day high school experience better, which I feel good about,” Siefkes said. “It makes me feel good to help them get through their day or their week.”
Siefkes received the SAMMI Circle of Service award Saturday.
For more information on the Angel Program, visit www.issaquahhighptsa.org/Page/Programpages/Angel%20Program.
In all, 12 people received a SAMMI at the awards event, which showcases Sammamish residents, business owners, students and volunteers who make meaningful contributions to the community.
For more information visit www.sammiawards.org.
Carrie Rodriguez contributed to this report.
