Allred invited to speak at World Leadership Congress

WASILLA — A local boy building a national résumé is at it again.

This time Sam Allred, 13, has been invited to speak to about 400 of his peers at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership’s World Leadership Congress July 20-27 at Loyola University in Chicago, Ill.

Allred traveled to Washington, D.C., in May to receive the 2013 Prudential’s Spirit of Community Award for his volunteer service. At the ceremony, he met Virginia Newsome, who told him about the youth leadership organization. Back in Alaska, Allred inquired contacted HOBY about participating.

“We were pleasantly surprised when they contacted us,” his mom, Angie Allred, wrote in an email. “Sam has been given the great privilege of addressing 400 students from around the world!”

The Wasilla youth has been invited, but to make it to the podium he’ll first need to raise $2,500 to cover travel expenses, stuffing and other supplies that are needed to complete the project of creating 1,000 small pillows for Project Comfort, his mom said.

For the last three years, Allred has traveled to local schools to talk to his peers about his illness and service project to make and share pillows with kids.

At HOBY, Allred has been invited to share his pillow-making service project with youths there who would have the opportunity to help sew, stuff and hand-stitch the pillows closed.

Allred said their goal for HOBY is to take supplies to make and share 1,000 travel-size pillows with children who are hospitalized. He said he started the project after he was given a similar hand-made pillow while he was hospitalized.

“That pillow meant a lot to me, it showed that somebody cared,” Allred said. “I want children that are hospitalized to feel loved the way that I did, that is why I continue to do the pillow project.”

Readers also may remember Allred from past stories in the Frontiersman, beginning with a feature about him printed Aug. 10, 2010. More recently, he made a trip to Washington, D.C., in October 2011 to participate in Advocacy Day for the NephCure Foundation. That effort led U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and four co-signers to request information on focal segmental glomerulosclerosis/nephrotic syndrome research from the National Institutes of Health.

Last fall, Allred also stole the show as the Mayor of Munchkinland in the Valley Performing Arts production of “Wizard of Oz.”

To help Allred with his fundraising, people can contribute via a PayPal link on the Facebook Community Page for Project Comfort. Or, people may purchase his book “Cuppy Cake Sam” online at cuppycakesam.com.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.