Organization Overview

“When’s the best time to plant a tree?” Amir Samandi asks in this brand video for Students of Service (SOS), the San Antonio nonprofit he founded and leads as executive director. The answer: 30 years ago. Amir thinks that with SOS, “we’re planting those seeds that we may not see” for 10, 20 or 30 years, so “there’s an urgency to what we’re doing.”

SOS engages students in grades 6 through 12 in community service and travel abroad. Trinity Williams, an SOS member, realized she was helping people in her own community who might need the food bank or the diaper bank. Realizing that, she says, “not only increases your empathy, but just increases your awareness of the impact that you can have.”

On trips abroad, it’s “a time to learn, time to grow,” says Ellie Rubio, a member since 2022. “We are exhausted on these trips,” one speaker says. Alex Gonzalez, a member since 2019, went on a two-week trip through donor support and gained a “global citizen perspective.”

Amir, a father of three sons, wants them to grow up with more kids like the ones SOS is helping to shape. Barbara Ankamah Burford, vice president of community relations at Wells Fargo, says she’s proud of “the impact it’s making on the students, the community in San Antonio and globally.” The last line goes to donors: “Your generosity creates a ripple effect.”