WiLD 106 and SESLOC Credit Union are proud to honor Samantha McDonald as a SESLOC Young Change Maker. Samantha earned the award in July 2025 after raising over $500,000 for the Children’s Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara County.

The SESLOC Young Change Maker Award is given monthly to a young person or young professional under 40 doing significant work to benefit their community. Anyone can nominate a young person for the SESLOC Young Change Maker award on the Wild 106 website.

When Samantha McDonald was approached to be an Elks Rodeo Queen candidate to raise money for Children’s Resource & Referral, she rose to the challenge. During the six-week fundraising campaign, she raised $572,626 for her cause.

The money will stay in the Santa Maria Valley, directly supporting the organization’s Heart to Home Resource Closet. The program provides immediate needs for children entering emergency foster care for the first night, including diapers, wipes, pajamas, blankets, and stuffed animals. If needed, additional items from their closet are available to children of all ages, ranging from clothes to car seats.

Running for Rodeo Queen was just one of Samantha’s activities to close out her senior year at Righetti High School. She was also a member of the varsity tennis team, a competitor in English horse riding, president of the school’s FFA chapter and Vineyard 4-H club, and a volunteer raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. She graduated with a 4.7 GPA and three associate’s degrees from Allan Hancock College. This fall, she will attend the University of San Francisco to study nursing.

Samantha says having a good balance is key to managing all of her high school activities while raising money for Children’s Resource & Referral as a Rodeo Queen candidate. She credits the support of her entire family and community, especially her parents, for everything she’s been able to accomplish.

WiLD 106 and SESLOC Credit Union are proud to honor Amber Nieslanik as a SESLOC Young Change Maker. Amber earned the award in June 2025 for her dedication to the community as a service dog trainer for New Life K9s.

Amber grew up on a ranch in Colorado, surrounded by all different kinds of animals. Her daily routine involved working with horses, cows, and pigs. From a young age, she knew that she wanted to work with animals.

At Cal Poly, Amber not only studied how to work with animals, but also worked on an exotic animal training certification with the Animal Behavior Institute. While her original goal was to work specifically with marine mammals, a job working around dogs would change her career trajectory entirely.

While at college, Amber started working at Thousand Hills Pet Resort, where she fell in love with working with animals. Her training working with exotic animals provided a foundation in training and working with the dogs, which allowed her to climb the ranks and transition to working with non-profit New Life K9s.

With her current role, Amber works with volunteers to train service dogs for veterans and first responders affected by PTSD. She works with both the public and those incarcerated at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo to train the dogs for two years before being assigned to their veteran or first responder.

Amber says being recognized as a SESLOC Young Change Maker means a lot to her and her mission at New Life K9s. The recognition of highlights the importance of giving back to the community, especially to those who have already given so much.

You can help Amber and New Life K9s drive their mission to pair more service dogs with those in need. The organization is always looking for help at the office, along with families to help socialize puppies and prepare them for training as service dogs. To find out more, visit their website at https://www.newlifek9s.org/volunteer.

WiLD 106 and SESLOC Credit Union are proud to honor 25-year-old Nico Calanchini as a SESLOC Young Change Maker in partnership with Wild 106. Nico earned the award in April 2025 for his dedication to the Central Coast community as the general manager of the San Luis Obispo Blues baseball team.

Raised in Morro Bay, Nico attended his first Blues game in the summer of 2008 at eight years old. He immediately fell in love with the sport of baseball – and specifically, the San Luis Obispo Blues. By high school, he knew that he wanted to work in sports but wasn’t sure what form that would take.

In 2019, Nico earned an internship with the Blues, where he learned many different lessons about the business of baseball. After spending 2020 and 2021 working at Camelback Ranch in Spring Training ticketing operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, he would go on to graduate from Arizona State University with a degree in sports management before returning to the Blues.

By 2021, he was named beer manager and director of hospitality, before moving up to assistant general manager in 2022. Three years later, he was named the general manager of the team.

In his role, 25-year-old Nico oversees and mentors over 30 interns, along with onboarding more than 40 collegiate players continuing their growth with the Blues over the summer. He also partners with a local non-profit organization for each game, donating 100 tickets for the non-profit to use for their volunteers or selling them as a fundraiser. The non-profits are also given space to set up an information booth outside of the main gate to share their mission. Nico says if he can make a new Blues fan from the partnerships, they will be more engaged with the team and local non-profit organizations.

As he looks ahead in his life, Nico says that he doesn’t know what the future will bring, but he hopes to keep working at a high level in sports. His focus now is to provide the best experience for the Blues, the fans, and the Central Coast community he loves. As for his interns and the next generation, his advice is to try everything to find what you love.

“Be a sponge and be flexible,” says Nico. “Going into college, you think you have your plan set and that’s where you’re going to end up. But it’s a windy road. Things are going to change, but you have to roll with the punches and you’ll wind up on your feet.”

WiLD 106 and SESLOC Credit Union are proud to honor 18-year-old Aria Olsen as the first SESLOC Young Change Maker. Aria earned the award in March 2025 for her community service and co-founding the Pots to Plants project, benefiting SLO Food Bank.

At 14, Aria saw opportunities where others saw succulents. Aria co-founded the community project Pots to Plates when she was asked to help a mentor rehome a set of overgrown succulents. This immediately turned into an idea: Sell the repotted plants, with all the proceeds going to SLO Food Bank.

Working with her friends, they hosted pop-up events in the community to sell their arrangements by donation only. Pots are available for between $10 and $50, with customers setting prices based on the plant size. At her first sale, Aria sold 40 pots, raising over $1,070 for the SLO Food Bank which provided over 7,500 meals.

The word spread fast about their ambitions to help the food bank, leading to plenty of support. Local businesses and individuals offered their help in everything from donating pots, succulent clippings, and even printing posters announcing their next sale. Since founding Pots to Plants in 2021, Aria’s fundraisers have contributed over 37,000 meals to the SLO Food Bank. Her nonprofit has also sold plants to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through the Pink Lemonade Stand Challenge.

That’s not the only project Aria is involved in. She is also an annual volunteer for local media personality Adam Montiel’s Breaking & Entering Christmas Project, where she helps wrap presents for families who would otherwise go without during the holiday season.

“What makes Aria truly exceptional isn’t just what she’s done – it’s who she is,” said Montiel, who nominated Aria for the award. “Thoughtful, mature, and deeply kind, she leads with humility and respects those around her, whether it’s her peers, teachers, or community mentors.”

Montiel says that Aria doesn’t do the volunteer work for the recognition, but rather because “that’s who she is.” Now in her senior year of high school, Aria’s next act involves continuing her education at one of the several colleges and universities that have accepted her application.

Even as she looks at going away to college, Pots to Plants isn’t going anywhere. Aria says her sister and co-founders are determined to keep the project alive, with her helping to advise where she can.