October 4, 2010

North Potomac Resident Nominated For Human Rights Hall Of Fame

North Potomac resident June Sampson has been nominated for the 2010 Montgomery County Office of Human Rights Hall of Fame. She and the other nine nominees were honored at a luncheon with County Executive Isiah Leggett on Thursday.

"It is a really a pleasure to have you here today," Leggett told the group gathered in the executive conference room. "We are an inclusive community, we are a great community. I think everyone recognizes the personal commitment you have all made, because everything you have done has helped make us what we are."

Sampson said she was surprised when she learned of her nomination two weeks ago.

"You don't do anything expecting to be rewarded," Sampson told Patch. "You just do it because it's the right thing to do."

In 2001, Sampson decided the right thing to do was to expose teenagers in Montgomery County to the reality of Africa. As part of her not-for-profit organization Parenting Plus Associates, Sampson began taking students between the ages of 12 and 16 on trips to Africa each year.

"I want to let them see for themselves what Africa really is," she said. "Hopefully they will be ambassadors, and they can come back and show their communities everything they have experienced."

She requires students pay $500 to insure they will turn up for the trip, but she funds all other expenses.

"It brings me a lot of pleasure to do these trips," she added. SOURCE: North Potomac Patch

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