Grace Callwood, aged 16, is founder and chairwoman of her all-youth board of advisors at The We Cancerve Movement Inc. Grace founded the non-profit aged 7 having landed upon an opportunity to benefit homeless kids. Thus was born Grace’s dream of bringing happiness to sick, unhappy foster youth in the US. Having reached more than 20,000 young people through her efforts and raised huge funds to support her goals, Grace proves there’s no limit to what you can achieve, regardless of age or prior experience.

In awe of the philanthropy of Grace and her initiative, Kebloom got in touch with the chairwoman herself:

1) Please introduce yourself.

Hi, my name is Grace Callwood. I’m 16 years old and I’m the founder of The We Cancarve Movement Inc, based in Harford County, Maryland.

“Have a very clear mission or goal. Make sure that you know, your supporters know and the community knows what you’re all about.”

2) What is the name of your non-profit?

The name of my non-profit is The We Cancerve Movement Inc.

3)   Tell us a little bit about The We Cancerve Movement.

The We Cancerve Movement Inc is a non-profit organization that brings happiness to homeless, sick and foster children through projects and events. We have an all-youth board of advisors ages 8 - 18, and together we believe that happiness shouldn’t have to wait, bringing swift solutions to children in need.

“Make sure that you know, your supporters know and the community knows what you’re all about.”

4) What passions inspired your non-profits creation?

I’ve always been passionate about bringing other people happiness, whether it was my friends or my family or people that need it the most.

I’ve been doing community service (technically) since I was two, but got serious about it when I was 7 years old, shortly after I was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Having cancer was something very new to me, I had no idea what it was or what it meant until I had it, I just knew it was very painful and very scary.

But, there was an opportunity brought to me to give my back-to-school clothes to two girls who had just become homeless. When my mom went to deliver the clothes for me and told me about their happy reaction, I knew doing this work was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So, I was able to establish an all-youth board of advisors and, together, we’ve been able to bring happiness to over 22,000 homeless, sick and foster children to date.

5) What skills have you developed whilst running your non-profit?

Some of the skills my all-youth board of advisors and I have acquired through working with The We Cancerve Movement have been: leadership skills, how to take project start to finish, deeper thinking about what the organisation really needs and how we can accomplish that goal, along with a bit of public speaking. I am a public speaker and my board members have definitely grown to be able to make conversations with strangers to get information that we need and to make the relationships that we need. We also have been making sure we aren’t a burden to the recipient organization and that we address their needs.

6) What projects have you organized?

Some of the projects we have include:

• La Magnifique Boutique: a boutique filled with clothes appropriate for work and worship for teen girls in foster care.

• Breakfast Bags Bonanza: In the fall we give homeless and foster youth non-perishable breakfast foods to hold them over the Thanksgiving and winter break

• Brunch Box: we recently gave enough food to feed a family for about a week (breakfast, lunch and dinner foods) to 300 families in need.

• Camp Happy: free onsite summer enrichment program for homeless and foster youth. We take them on field trips, we do activities and hold theme days. In 2020, we created virtual Camp Happy, where our youth camp counsellors created video tutorials for youth to follow at home to have a fun summer whilst abiding by the guidelines.

7) What are your current goals for The We Cancerve Movement and what is your ultimate one?

Some of the goals I have for the We Cancerve Movement are definitely to eventually reach 50,000 homeless youth and foster children, we’ve served about 22,000 so far. I also really want to continue on this adaptable mindset we’ve been having due to Covid-19, taking our projects to a virtual space, social distancing and serving virtually. Another thing I’d like is for us, is to start serving a little heavier in other counties.

My ultimate goal is for We Cancerve to have a succession plan for when I turn 18. I will not be able to lead the group or be part of the board of advisors [once I am 18], so I really want to have a succession plan so We Cancerve can live on.

8) What advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs/dreams?

The advice I would give to other young entrepreneurs or dreamers would be, to first and foremost, always remember that there is no age limit on service. I’m a big believer that there is no age limit on service because I started so young and when I tried to apply for grants or different things like that, there was always an age limit of about 13. I am just now 16, but there is definitely not an age limit on service.

I would also recommend gaining a community of supporters. I first started off with a board of about 13 people and now we are a board of about 5 people. That is okay with me, because we also have a very supportive community around us. The last thing I would recommend, is definitely to have a very clear mission or goal. Make sure that you know, your supporters know and the community knows what you’re all about.

…and anything else you’d like to add!

You can find the We Cancerve on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

And the last thing I would like to say is to remember that there is no age limit on service and that young people’s minds are like no other.

About the Author:

Ellie McRae is the blogger, interviewer and content creator for Kebloom! When she’s not writing kick-ass articles, you’ll find her studying marketing and drinking copious amounts of coffee. Find out more about Ellie here.