That’s how Samantha and Micheal launched Project 33 Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit that strives “to preserve the memories of U.S. Special Operations soldiers killed in action since September 11, 2001.” The first year, it was just friends and family who took part in the pack run, and they chose to honor SPC Kristofer T. Stonesifer, a close family friend who had served in the Third Battalion, Seventy-fifth Ranger Regiment. They wrote his name on the shirts they wore to pay homage to the name tape on the uniform and told people about his life and sacrifice. News of the memorial run, which Samantha specifies, “it’s a pack run, not a race, as we cross the finish line together with the American flag leading the pack to represent the fallen,” spread quickly. The next year, they doubled the number of participants. They pivoted during COVID to create virtual chapters, but the number of people who choose to contribute to Project 33 has been steadily increasing.

“We raise money for the memorial run, though we don’t keep it; rather, we donate it to a charity chosen by the fallen hero’s family.” Samantha explained, “yet money is not what matters. What is truly important to the family members is that we say and remember their names. Just like in the Disney movie Coco, we’ve learned that as long as we say their names and honor their legacy, they’re never truly gone.”

Inspired by the positive and healing impact that Project 33 had both in and outside the military community, it didn’t take long for Samantha to ask herself: What more can I do to help? A year later, she and two other military spouses, Jessica Manfre and Maria Reed, decided to launch Giving Tuesday Military. “Instead of raising money, we chose to flip the script and ask for acts of kindness and service,” Samantha said. “We had twelve weeks to build a campaign, no track record, and no guarantee that we would accomplish anything. But we believed in our mission, so we set a very ambitious goal of reaching one million acts of kindness.” When Giving Tuesday headquarters reviewed all the spreadsheets of tracked acts of kindness across the world—which included handmade cards from school children to veterans in hospice care, blood drives, positive messages in front of schools, blessing begs for the homeless, and so much more—Samantha and her friends could not believe the number they managed to reach. “Two-and-a-half million acts of kindness! We were blown away!”

Once again, Samantha wondered: What more can I do to help? Alongside Jessica and Maria, Samantha launched another nonprofit: Inspire Up™ Foundation. Their mission is to inspire up “a kinder and more giving world by uniting the military and civilian communities through empowerment, education, community building, and a commitment to serve.” Since 2020, their nonprofit has given away over $30,000 in Impact Grants, has served close to 1,500 communities, and has been able to count on over 4,000 volunteers who believe in their mission.

“Small acts of kindness can start a ripple of which we will know no impact,” Samantha said when explaining what drives her to keep helping others. What started as her husband’s idea of honoring his fallen friends’ legacy eventually escalated into movements that took both the military and civilian worlds by storm.