Sam found the good – the light – in everyone. The moments of his unexpected kindness and grace for others filled our world. One of his hallmarks was the surprise gifts he would offer friends and strangers to make their world a little better. He would give away his favorite necklaces and rings, Pokémon cards, books, rare coins, and always, always, the money he had in his pocket. As we celebrate his Gotcha Day today (the day we adopted him from Russia and a day he loved to celebrate every year), we honor his life by offering several special donations to organizations working to break the stigma of mental health and tirelessly dedicating their time to work with amazing kids like Sam who struggle to find peace.

Our 2023 special grant recipients include:

• Blue Channel Therapy: Blue Channel Therapy provides additional affordable, high-quality mental health therapy to children and families in Colorado. Funds will be used to offer free sessions to families who cannot afford treatment.
• The Child Mind Institute: Funds will support the development of free bilingual resources for caregivers and educators working and caring for children struggling with mental health and learning disorders.
• Cobbled Streets: Funds will be used to offer experiences for youth in foster care that align with Sam’s passions including free music lessons, summer camp experiences in partnership with Cottonwood Institute and a 6-week golf and mentorship program with First Tee.
• Havern School: Funds will be used to support a mental health provider to provide crisis intervention and individual and small group counseling to students and families in the school’s new Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) K-5th program.
• Rise Against Suicide: The grant will allow RISE to continue its mission of providing 10 free therapy sessions for youth struggling with suicidality in Boulder Valley School District, Saint Vrain Valley School District, and surrounding areas.
• Robbie’s Hope: Funds will help expand the Robbie’s Hope Ambassador program — teen volunteers nationwide who are working to help combat teen depression and suicide. Their goal is to cut teen suicide rates in Colorado in half by 2028 in honor of their son, Robbie, who died by suicide at age 15.
• Youth Seen: The grant will help offset the cost of a Youth Seen therapist who will teach coping skills to LGBTQI youth and empower them to effectively deal with the struggles and challenges they encounter at school, in the community, and at home. 

Thank you to these incredible organizations for doing the hard work, and a special thank you to the generous donors of The Sam Aden Kindness Fund, housed under The Get Grounded Foundation, who allowed these special donations to become a reality.

If you know of someone struggling with mental health or need to talk, please get in touch with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 988. If you prefer to text, you can text “START” to 741-741 where a live, trained specialist will respond to you. 

It is only by working together that we might fix our youth mental health system on behalf of so many other kids just as incredible as Sam.