The SAMMI Awards
February 19th, 2010 | By: Cary Young
Stories of Inspiration for an entire community.
Storytelling is a uniquely human activity through which we inspire each other to reach beyond our normal existence and enhance the lives of our fellow human beings. The SAMMI Awards, Sammamish Acknowledges Magnificent Moments of Inspiration, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to harness the power of storytelling and inspire our neighbors to join the SAMMI Award nominees in making unselfish contributions to our community.
Trenton Price, Monisha Gulibani, Nicky Beedle, and Lucas Thrusn
The SAMMI Awards story begins in 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Four residents of Sammamish, Wendy Boglioli, Jack Barry, Karen Armstead and Loren Staybolt, decided that they wanted to create something positive during those times of despair. They focused on the idea of celebrating the positive elements in the community, and out of an intense brainstorming session, the SAMMI Awards were born. Every year since then, Sammamish residents have come together to recognize those citizens who give unselfishly to the community. The ceremony mixes nominee stories with local talent, providing an experience that is entertaining and inspirational. This year’s award ceremony will be on March 13, 7 p.m. at Mary Queen of Peace. The event is free and open to the public.
For the past nine years, the SAMMI Awards have recognized magnificent people in nine categories: Arts, Business, Courage, Youth Advocate, Learning Promotion, Teen Spirit, Trevor Price, Unsung Hero and the Spirit of Sammamish. The SAMMI Awards organization looks for a core set of values in each of the nominees, regardless of their category. The core values are sense of community, high ethical values, dedication, inspiration, change agent and leadership.
The Awards have become a big part of the community – nominations begin arriving in late fall. The nominations are initially screened by the Nominations Committee, and then the top five nominees in each category are invited for an interview. Volunteers are invited to participate as interviewers, with representatives from business, city council, education, and the greater volunteer community. The top three nominees in each category are then scored by an independent panel of judges who reside outside of Sammamish. The Award recipient is chosen by combining the local and the independent panel’s scores.
All of the volunteers who participate in the interview and judging process find the experience both inspirational and challenging. Participants are often moved to tears by the stories. Ranking the nominees can be very difficult because they are all worthy of recognition. It is for this reason the SAMMI Awards organization avoids using the term “winner” when referring to the folks who are ultimately chosen for the award, and always include all of the finalists’ stories at the ceremony and in the printed program.
2008 Unsung Hero award winner John Hardt with Julia Williams and Gus Kiss
The SAMMI Awards stories cover an extraordinary range of accomplishment and public visibility. Marin Morrison, the 2007 Courage Awardee, gained national attention for her tenacity and guts in the face of her own mortality as she pursued a swimming metal at the Beijing Special Olympics while an unrelenting brain tumor tried to take her down. The 2008 Unsung Hero, John Hardt, inspired the children at Samantha Smith Elementary to nominate him for his kindness and dedication as the school’s janitor. The SAMMI Awards also capture stories of individuals who change the lives of people outside of our community while teaching valuable lessons about charity and leadership to the youth of our community. Curtis Betzler, an eighth grade teacher at Beaver Lake Elementary was the 2008 Youth Advocate Awardee. He spearheads a school wide humanitarian program that encourages students to collect educational and comfort supplies for distribution in Africa. The effort has grown into a full-fledged nonprofit called Generation Joy. The stories also capture times of challenge and triumph. No one will forget Monisha Gulabani’s stage walk as the Trevor Price Awardee at the 2009 ceremony. At the age of 12, Monisha lost her leg to cancer, but she inspired those around her by redefining “normal” and quickly returning to an active life.
These stories all embody the “SAMMI Spirit” of inspiration and selfless dedication to the community. In the past nine years, approximately 330 stories have been told at the SAMMI Awards ceremonies. What’s surprising and encouraging is that new stories come in each year, demonstrating that the vision of the Founders is working, and the stories told today are providing the inspiration for the magnificent moments of tomorrow.
For more information, check at our web site at www.sammiawards.org.
