Samantha Pietersen

Samantha Pietersen is a mother of three from Tingalpa who is making a huge difference in people's lives. When floods hit South East Queensland, Sam knew she had to do something to help so she started 'Brisbane Adoption' on Facebook, where she writes an individual post to describe individuals and families and their experience of being flood-affected and any help needed.

Each story has a tagline, like 'Gorgeous family with six children' or 'Single Surfer' who is a young man who surfed out of Grantham off his roof and took his puppy. There are many ways to give or 'adopt'. Some people just want their gardens looking green and clean again, some need meals cooked and others require furniture. The families being 'adopted' are from the all over Brisbane, Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley/ Somerset Regions.

Every family get one special gift that meant something to them from their former life. One woman wished for a tree that had meant a lot to her family. They planted it 18 years when they moved to the Lockyer Valley and it was uprooted during the floods. The idea is to help families get back on their feet and help make the daily grind easier. Sam says she doesn't match helpers with those in need - people identify with the story. As many as fifteen families 'adopt' one family for six months.

Sam and her team do not receive funding and work on 'Brisbane Adoption' on top of their other life and work commitments. Her truck driver has donated his time and truck to the project which is about $750 a day. But Sam is undeterred. 148 families have been 'adopted' and hundreds of families still need help. Currently, the site has over 890 members. Sam says day-to-day life can be a struggle at the best of times, let alone when you are coping with the affects of a natural disaster; these are the things that profoundly affect you. Sam is a volunteer with heart who will be looking after families long after the mud has gone.

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