Check Out Sammie Magee’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sammie Magee

Hi Sammie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started the toy drive nearly three years ago when I was 15. It was created to help support the children and families who had just experienced the Robb Elementary School massacre that took place on May 24th, 2022, and to honor the 21 victims one toy at a time. Between June 2022-November 2023, I collected toys and donations to help make the Sammie’s Toy Drive event possible. Finally, 11/10/23, I traveled to Uvalde with my mom and hosted the first annual Sammie’s Toy Drive Event (at the time, I didn’t have any plans of continuing the toy drive after this event). We had around 100 children in attendance who were able to get snow cones, play with therapy dogs and pick up as many donated toys as they’d like. The evening after the event, I met an older woman who owns a business in the town. She recognized me by my lime green Sammies’ Toy Drive shirt and hugged me. She sobbed as she kept saying “I didn’t know any of them, but this is my home. Thank you.” That was when I knew that my work here wasn’t done. Upon returning home, I began working on the forms to become a 501(c)(3), and another trip to Uvalde on May 24th. Yet again, my mom and I took one of our iconic 5:00am flights to San Antonio, which is the closet airport to the small town of Uvalde, which is about an hour and a half away. In Uvalde on the two year mark of the shooting, we spent most of our time at Robb Elementary and at the cemetery. I hugged Gloria, the mom of 9-year-old victim Jackie Cazares outside of Robb that day, and before I could ask her if she was doing okay, she asked me how I was. This basically sums up these incredible families. Jackie loved all animals, especially dogs, and wanted to be a vet when she grew up. She dreamed of visiting Paris for her graduation trip. Later, I visited all of the graves of the 21 at the cemetery to place a handmade bouquet. I met families I had never met before, and talked with my close friends as we sat at their child’s grave. That day, I met the Salazar family, 11-year-old victim Layla Salazars family. I spoke to them for nearly an hour as they told me abut their daughter, and her beautiful curly hair. Layla had a love for running, koala bears, and the Guns and Roses song, Sweet Child of Mine. She sung it with her dad every morning in the car as they headed to Robb Elementary. That evening, I attended the candlelight vigil for the 21. It was a beautiful remembrance. Unfortunately, I did notice the small crowd that was there. Uvalde is a very divided community, and has been since May 24th. Families of the victims are told to move on, and many push for the murals of the children and teachers to be covered up. These families have very little support from their own community, that is why almost three years later, I am still there. In October 2024, we hosted the second annual Sammie’s Toy Drive event. We had bounce houses, boba tea, nail polishing and hair tinsel, a magic show, therapy animals, and of course, toys for the children to take home. We had about 150 children at the event, and 45 families signed up for the community Angel Tree that we offered. By the week after Christmas, all of the Angel Tree lists had been cleared, and all families were taken care of. At the event, we had many victims and survivors families helping us. 10-year-old victim Makenna Lee Elrod’s family had therapy animals. Makenna was a faith driven, animal loving girl. She was a bright light who loved writing notes and hiding them around her house for her family to find. Jackie’s family was there with their family member who ran the boba booth, who is also related to 10-year-old victim Annabell. Annabell loved blue butterflies and every night before bed, she used to text her “boyfriend”, Xavier, “I love you”. Xavier and Annabell were killed along with 9 others in classroom 111. We had 10-year-old victim Eliahna Torres family at the event. They offered nail polishing and hair tinsel, and will be providing us with our event space for the third annual event. Eliahna loved softball and was nervous to go to school on May 24th, since that was the day that the softball all stars team was announced. She made the team, along with other victims, Tess Mata, Makenna Lee Elrod and Lexi Rubio. And lastly, we had the Orona family at the event. Their 12-year-old son, Noah, survived classroom 112. They have become family to me, and I can’t imagine life without them. Uvalde is a staple in my life, and I hope to one day be saying that I’m planning the 40th annual event. Never forget the 21 lives taken at Robb, they aren’t just numbers, they are lives that were cut short. The community is still struggling and needs all the help and support they can get.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been very bumpy. As you can imagine, a 15-year-old starting her own non-profit has a lot of learning curves. I wanted to visit Uvalde less than three months after the shooting to host the event, but I ended up not visiting until a year and a half after, this actually ended up being the best thing that could’ve happened. I earned my Girl Scout Gold Award for my project, and many of my ideas had been turned down before the toy drive that wasn’t created for my Gold Award was finally approved as a Gold project. I’ve faced a lot of backlash from people since they believe the community has moved on, they are very wrong. There are still many struggles now, I have no volunteers. But learning from mistakes has been the best and most rewarding thing.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work consists of support work within the Uvalde community through the toy drive.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Honoring the 21 one toy at a time. They were 9, 10 and 11 year old children who were just excited for bubble and movie day at school, and two teachers who died for their students. They need and deserve to be remembered. They aren’t statistics, they are people who had full lives and dreams. In the end, all of my work is for them and their families.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sammiestoydrive.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sammiestoydrive?igsh=MXVwaWhmdmlmam03OA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SammiesToyDrive?