Kids at Heart
"The Student Philanthropy Council was perfect for me. I feel like I found my purpose at HCC." – Samantha "Sami" Stackpole
As president of the HCC Student Philanthropy Council, Samantha Stackpole has learned a lot about fundraising operations at the college during the past three semesters. But a personal history of giving is something she brought with her to that role.
“Philanthropy has always been a big part of my life,” she said.
Over the years, “Sami,” as she’s known, has been involved with charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Scleroderma Foundation of New England. But there is one nonprofit even closer to her heart – the Double H Ranch in Luzerne, New York, a summer camp in the Adirondacks for seriously ill children, founded by the late Paul Newman.
“The two H’s stand for health and happiness. That’s our motto,” she said,
For the past two summers, the 21-year-old from Westfield, Mass., has worked at the Double H Ranch as a camp counselor; during special off-season weekends, she volunteers there.
However, her association with the Double H Ranch began long before that. As a child, Stackpole was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called systemic scleroderma.
“It’s a chronic illness that I have to live with it for the rest of my life, but it is manageable,” she said. “There are treatments for the symptoms, so I’m able to live as much of a full life as I can.”
From the age of 10 to 18, Stackpole attended the Double H Ranch as a camper for one week every summer. The experience changed her life.
“What’s most important is to stay in the moment,” Stackpole learned. “That’s the one thing we want campers to focus on. There may be hard things that they’re dealing with outside of camp, but during that week your only responsibility is to be a kid.”
The Double H Ranch is part of the SeriousFun Children’s Network, which runs camps all over the United States. (The first was the Hole in the Wall Gang camp, started by Newman in 1988.) Of all the SeriousFun camps, Stackpole said, the Double H Ranch takes children with the widest range of medical conditions, including those with blood diseases, cancer, and neuromuscular disorders, and children who have had organ transplants. One week each summer – “Camp Inspiration,” they call it – is devoted to children who use breathing support devices.
“My counselors had a very big impact on me,” Stackpole said. “They treated everyone with the same kindness, no matter their disability or disease.”
During her first summer as a full-time employee, Stackpole worked as a cabin counselor. Last summer, she returned as an archery instructor. In the fall, winter and spring, she volunteers there on weekends devoted to people with specific medical conditions. One week, called “Bravehearts,” is for adult women who have had some form of cancer.
In December 2024, on national Giving Tuesday, Stackpole made a donation to the Double H Ranch. A note she wrote with her gift caught the attention of camp administrators.
Last spring, as NBC’s TODAY show was preparing a segment about the philanthropic legacy of Paul Newman, for what would have been the actor’s 100th birthday, producers approached the Double H Ranch looking for one staff member to interview. Based on her note, camp officials suggested Stackpole.
“I wrote something along the lines of how the camp had shaped me into the person that I am, with all the beliefs that I have today, which are based on inclusivity and respect and kindness, and how I wouldn’t have had that if I hadn’t gone there,” she said.
One Friday in May, the TODAY show team visited the Double H Ranch, where Stackpole was interviewed by TV personality Al Roker.
“When you first came here,” he asked, “how did it change you?”
Quoting Paul Newman himself, Stackpole said, “There is no such thing as sick kids; there are children who happen to be sick.”
“We were just treated like normal kids here,” she added.
The HCC Student Philanthropy Council started in fall 2024, Stackpole’s first semester at HCC. She joined right away. The council is part student club and part advisory board. Members work closely with the college’s Institutional Advancement team and Scholarship Resource Center to plan fundraising and friend-raising events and encourage other students to get involved in college campaigns.
“The council was perfect for me,” she said. “I feel like I found my purpose at HCC.”
A business administration major, Stackpole’s long-term goal is to get a master’s degree in nonprofit management. Beyond that, she can see herself one day working professionally for the SeriousFun Network, perhaps as camp manager of the Double H Ranch.
“As a kid growing up with a chronic illness, it’s easy to believe that you’re different from everyone else, that you’re just a sick kid and not being given the love and respect and appreciation that everyone else gets,” Stackpole said. “That can be really hard for kids growing up, not to feel like their peers at all. So being able to give these kids that love and warmth and kindness that they don’t get in the regular world is so important in my eyes. I want that to keep happening.”
Starting in January, Stackpole will be a giant step closer to her goal. She’s transferring to Siena College, to get a headstart on her bachelor’s degree. Siena is 11 miles north of Albany, just 50 miles south of the Double H Ranch.
PHOTOS: Samantha "Sami" Stackpole
