Teen Pledges $8K-Plus In Response To Floyd Death

BEL AIR, MD — We Cancerve Movement, Inc. Founder Grace Callwood, 15, pledged $8,460 Sunday in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died during a fatal encounter with Minnesota police officers. The encounter lasted eight minutes and 46 seconds.

Callwood vowed to disperse funds over the next four years for rapid rehousing, mental health services, educational and vocational counseling and emergency services to Maryland-based nonprofits with proven records of servicing mostly Black homeless youth, and Black foster youth who are aging out or have aged out of the foster care system.

"Mr. Floyd's death signals the first time I have witnessed everyone come clean and say where they stand. It's shown me who’s willing to speak up instead of who’s turning a blind eye to the situations of his death and racism in general," said the rising high school sophomore.

In a statement she made public earlier today, she said "From social media campaigns to street protests, we see generations of people, corporate CEOs and national celebrities drawing boundary lines; it’s not black versus white. Now more than ever its everyone versus racists and those who are silent get dragged into a side whether they like it or not."

Callwood started her nonprofit at age seven to bring "swift solutions" to homeless, sick and foster children who she said couldn't afford to wait on happiness.

Her philanthropy has brought her face-to-face with homeless families at 10 homeless shelters and transitional housing programs that service families with children in the greater Baltimore area. Her work extends to three foster care group homes and three orphanages -- two in Africa. Locally, she's established relationships with public and provide foster care social workers, kinship care specialists and rehabilitation and vocational counselors with whom she meets routinely to understand the issues that surround foster care placement and emancipation.

"These youth are in sad situations that are not their fault. These youth did not chose to be homeless or in foster care. Nor did they choose to be perceived as threats because of the color of their skin," she said.

By donating money to organizations that can help them, Callwood said she's hoping in some small way, she can supplement them with resources, increase their stability and "keep them out of harms way."

Callwood is the 2019 World of Children Youth Honoree, a 2019 Baron Prize for Young Heroes Winner and a 2019 CNN Young Wonder.

For more information on We Cancerve, visit her website at www.wecancerve.org.