"I Made Kindness Go Viral"
Seventeen - US|December/January 2017

After bullies excluded her at lunch, Natalie Hampton, 16, from Sherman Oaks, CA, created an app so no one else would have to eat alone.

Jen Abidor
"I Made Kindness Go Viral"

17: Your app is called sit with us. tell us about it.

Sit With Us is a social network that helps users find people to sit with at lunch so they don’t have to eat alone. You can also use the app to sign up to be an Ambassador, which means you host lunches and pledge not to turn anyone away from the table.

17: What Inspired you to do this?

At my old school, I was severely bullied and ate lunch alone most of the time—I felt very lonely. I ended up switching to a new school my freshman year, and I fell in with a good friend group on the first day. After that, whenever I’d see anyone sitting alone, I’d ask them to join us. Inviting someone to join a lunch table can make such an impact on their life—I wanted to make that kind of difference for others beyond my school too. But at that point, I wasn’t totally sure how.

This story is from the December/January 2017 edition of Seventeen - US.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December/January 2017 edition of Seventeen - US.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.