On July 8, Camden County hosted a series of events across the county in a day of kindness to raises awareness for traumatic brain injuries.
The day is in honor of Samantha Goldsmith, a Cherry Hill resident who passed away in 2020 due to a brain injury.
The events included a concert, making kindness cards, a family oriented event at the Haddon Lake Pavilion called Buckets of Kindness, a park cleanup event and a general encouragement by the county for people to do an act of kindness.
The Buckets of Kindness event, with dozens of families in attendance, featured Camden County tables with child development screenings, a Virtua Health Pediatric Mobile Services vehicle, art station and Raising the Bar, an ice cream truck run by adults with special needs.
Jenny Goldsmith, Samantha’s sister who lives in New York, said that the point of the day of kindness is to encourage people to be nice to one another.
“Everyone could use a little kindness in their lives, especially right now,” Jenny Goldsmith said. “So I think just our friends, our family, our communities. Just putting a smile on somebody’s face. Buying a coffee for them in line at Starbucks. Holding a door open. Carrying somebody’s groceries. Doing something like this.”
An arts and crafts table at the Buckets of Kindness event.
Steven Goldsmith, Samantha’s father, said his daughter was a compassionate person and the day reflects that compassion.
“That was Sam,” Steven Goldsmith said. “She had a heart of gold. She was just somebody who had total compassion. And as we alluded to, she was born on Valentine’s Day and she epitomized what Valentine’s all about. Love, compassion, generosity.”
Since 2022, the Samantha Goldsmith Fund has support survivors of brain injuries and their families and it has hosted a day of kindness on July 8 since 2024.
Jenny Goldsmith said the event previously had just been a day when they had put out through social media, an ask to spread kindness in honor of her sister.
“Everything was very grassroots,” Jenny said. “Everything was like word of mouth, social media. It was all very like, ‘let’s just have a great day and spread kindness,’ so to see it translate into this is beyond our wildest expectations. Everything was … small and then this becomes beyond our expectations.”
This is the first time the fund has partnered with Camden County to host their kindness event.
In a press release, Commissioner Jennifer Cooley Fleisher said that the event is about lifting people up.
“This Day of Kindness is full of events that bring our community together through joy, connection, and a shared commitment to lifting one another up,” Fleisher said. “I encourage our residents to join us in creating a more caring and connected Camden County by spreading kindness in ways both big and small.”
Steven Goldsmith said the fund has raised a substantial amount of money, but didn’t specify.
