STUDENTS OF SERVICE CELEBRATES MAJOR MILESTONE ALONGSIDE INTERNATIONAL ACTIVIST, PAUL RUSESABAGINA

SAN ANTONIO, October 17, 2024 - This December, Students of Service (SOS) will celebrate the organization’s 10th year in San Antonio’s nonprofit community. The organization celebrated this accomplishment early with a Birthday Bash at the Red Berry Estate on Wednesday, October 16th. 

“In the past 10 years, our small organization has seen some tremendous growth and has overcome some just as tremendous challenges. We have stayed true to our mission throughout it all, and we look forward to what the next 10 years have in store for us,” shares Amir Samandi, the organization’s Executive Director. Samandi established the organization in 2014 as a teacher at Nimitz Middle School. In his world geography class, a student shared she had no idea what the Eiffel Tower was or where it was located. When Samandi pointed on a map to tell her where Paris was, he saw her spirit fall as she thought “she’d never go there.” Samandi knew he had to do something about that.

Now, 10 years later, Samandi and the SOS team have taken more than 600 students and volunteers on approximately 20 trips abroad. Local students qualify for these trips and travel scholarships through community service completed with SOS. Because of these students, more than 100,000 hours have been served at 75 nonprofit organizations in the San Antonio area — impacting over 4,500 lives.
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On Wednesday evening October 17th, Mayor Ron Nirenberg and event sponsors, Valero Energy, the Muriel F. Seibert Foundation, FirstDay Foundation, and Commissioner Clay-Flores, were on hand to celebrate the momentous occasion. The event featured a special program and dinner where SOS alumni shared the impact the program has made on their lives. The Birthday Bash also featured a special honoree, Paul Rusesabagina. Rusesabagina is a Rwandan humanitarian known for his role in saving more than 1,200 people during the Rwandian genocide. His story is portrayed through the movie Hotel Rwanda. His conversation alongside local philanthropist, Jane Macon, was a highlight of the evening.