By Katrina Hageman
It all started with a social media post asking community members to donate backpacks, pencils and other school supplies. In the six years since, approximately $20,000 has been raised and around 400 families have been impacted.
Blake Van Der Kamp (‘24 agricultural communication, international agriculture) always aspired to make a difference within education. He continues to do that through his FFA “Living to Serve” service project, the Samson-Curtis Drive.
Inspiration for the project came in 2019 while Van Der Kamp was at the National FFA Washington Leadership Conference (WLC) in Washington, D.C. During this conference, FFA members create and plan out “Living to Serve” projects to tackle issues facing their community.
Van Der Kamp chose to focus his project on organizing a school supply drive for his hometown Prairie City Monroe Community School District.
In addition to posting about it on social media, his FFA chapter helped promote the drive at farmers' markets and community events.
“It was no surprise that Blake picked a school supply drive to help students be the best learners they could be,” said Amber Samson (‘13 agricultural and life sciences education, ‘19 MS), FFA advisor and mentor to Van Der Kamp. “Blake valued school and people having the chance to do things without facing barriers; to him it was a perfect fit to give all kids that boost to be successful in school without the worry of having the right supplies.”
In the first year, he provided the Prairie City Monroe Community School District with 34 backpacks given out at the local food pantry, and the donations have grown each year since.
“The stories I heard from families about the impact these backpacks and supplies had on them made it all worth it,” Van Der Kamp said. “Kids don’t always get to pick out their own school supplies or experience back-to-school shopping, and giving families that opportunity was eye-opening.”
In the beginning, the drive was simply named the school supply drive. Van Der Kamp wanted to put meaning behind the project, which led it to be the Samson-Curtis Drive.
The name of the school supply drive honors Van Der Kamp’s mentors, Taylor Curtis and Samson.
“Taylor was my WLC facilitator who taught me that you don’t have to be a formal teacher to give back to education,” Van Der Kamp said. “Amber was my FFA advisor who invested time into me and helped me find my passion for communication.”
Together, these mentors showed Van Der Kamp the love and passion that goes into the education field. They assisted him in finding opportunities to make an impact and focus on his career.
“Blake left a legacy that still reaches the chapter,” Samson said. “After he graduated, kids still looked up to him as an example and for advice in FFA and beyond. Blake’s impact will be far reaching for many years.”
After two years of growth, Van Der Kamp bought a trailer to hold more school supplies and reach additional communities. He used social media to advertise to the public about locations and times where supplies could be donated.
“It was good to see there’s still a positive side of social media,” Van Der Kamp said. “Seeing people take action after seeing posts and being willing to donate and give back to the community was refreshing.”
Van Der Kamp now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he works full-time and is a full-time graduate student at Butler University, majoring in strategic communication. He’s working on relocating the Samson-Curtis Drive to Indianapolis to benefit students in that area.
“WLC and my service project have taught me that it doesn’t take a lot to make an impact; you can do small things to make a difference,” he said.