Earlier this year I was approached by a mom based out of Indiana who was a fan of Fearless Everyday, my show on Radio Disney, and wanted to know if I’d interview her incredible daughter Sammie for the show. Unfortunately the show only filmed in NY and LA so there wasn’t an opportunity for her to come out to either city and film. But I kept tabs on this budding 10-year-old while she continued to do so much good in the community. Her idea to take recycled bottle caps and make them in to benches to reduce bullying and increase kindness was nothing short of amazing.

I had the idea to approach NBC in Fort Wayne, Indiana and see if they’d profile me coming to Indiana to surprise Sammie at her buddy bench. When I looked up flights to Indiana from LA, I realized that it wasn’t exactly the easiest city to get to. I approached the Indiana Tourism Board and figured if I could get them to help us with the tickets which I chronicled on Instagram here to send my assistant and I to Fort Wayne, plus hook us up with an adventure, it’d be worth the trek. So they approved the trip, and I told Sammie’s mom  to come up with a way for me to surprise her in Indiana without her knowing!

My assistant Alexis and I flew to Fort Wayne on Wednesday and landed around 10 PM. We went right to our hotel in downtown Fort Wayne and woke up to snow on the ground yesterday! I surprised Sammie at her buddy bench in the afternoon and spent the evening with her family at her house. The segment airs on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week so I won’t share too much video footage now…but here are some pictures of the amazing day we had yesterday!

Stay tuned for the segment! #FearlessFridays