Sam Sheffres
Sam was born on January 28, 1994. He is oldest of three boys. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 7 after several years of misdiagnosis. He has always dealt with his diagnosis head on and has been very outspoken about the fact that he has a mental illness. When asked how Sam feels about having bipolar disorder, he says,”I try to refer to my bpd as a gift rather than a disability. Without it, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Even though I do struggle with the ups and downs, it gives me the focus and drive to get my projects done and makes me who I am.” Because Sam is open about his mental illness, friends and school mates feel comfortable talking to him about their disabilities. “Never give up”, says Sheffres, “I have friends, including myself, who have considered committing suicide or wanted to give up, but there’s always another happy day around the corner. It may not be tomorrow, and it may not be the next day either, but it will happen.”
A sophomore at High Tech High, Sam is a self-taught computer whiz and at 13 worked in the IT department at Qualcomm, the youngest intern they have ever had. There he created a backup monitoring system for the entire company that is still in use today. He has also started a computer and electronics repair company and specializes in data recovery. “Nothing makes people happier than to get all the data they thought was long gone… it is really gratifying.”
When Sam was 12 he heard his parents talking about how much money was raised at a gala for a local charity. He wondered why there were no fundraiser galas for kids with bipolar disorder, so he started his own efforts. Sam’s Cause, www.samscause.org, was born. Since then thousands of dollars have been generated for research into bipolar disorder by shopping on his web site. Sam explains, “People go to my site first, they click on a link to their preferred store, shop, and then that store kicks a percentage back to me. In some cases that can be as much as 7.5%. I then donate that amount in full. I have NEVER kept a penny, and my parents will confirm that. It doesn’t cost the buyer any more than it would if they went to the shopping site directly. Some of the coolest things people have bought are a bathtub, mattress, treadmill, and the uncoolest -- toilet paper!! I am not kidding.”
For his efforts to raise money for others with bipolar disorder, he is the recipient of the “Kohl’s Kids Who Care” regional winner, “Build-A-Bear Huggable Hero” national semifinalist, CBF’s first “Imagine” award and has been featured in BP magazine and several local newspapers. He is very interested in videography, genetics, science, creative writing, football and making money. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Sam laughs and says, “To be an entrepreneur and knock Bill Gates and Steve Jobs down a few pegs. Honestly, I want to invent stuff, all kinds of stuff. I have new ideas everyday!”
