How to Start a Charity at Seven Years of Age

How One Young Cancer Survivor Changed the Lives of Thousands

By Connor Markey, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Interview conducted by Vishwa Shulka and Yasmina Gadzhyyeva

A cancer diagnosis can impact someone’s life in many ways, only in rare cases leading to a positive outcome, but for Grace Callwood, the battle against the disease would lead her to a future few could have imagined.

Diagnosed with stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of seven, Callwood’s life would be turned upside down before it could fully begin. While other children her age were out enjoying their childhood, Callwood would be in and out of the hospital for days and weeks at a time. In addition to receiving regular che-motherapy and 10-25 medications daily, she would also undergo 33 spinal tap procedures in the span of nine months. Her trip to the Give the Kids the World Village, a resort for children facing terminal illnesses, inspired her to do something for other children in situations like her own.

“While I was there, there was this gift fairy that came in and brought gifts to our villa while we went to the amusement parks, but I already had a bunch of toys,” said Callwood. “I didn’t need any more, so I decided to donate these to one of the largest homeless shelters in the county, and that made the news.”

Not long after, Callwood expressed interest in founding her own charity, much to the shock of her family.

“Not only are you 7, but you’re fighting the fight of your life,” said Callwood, describing her mother’s initial reaction. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time.

Her family soon realized that Callwood would not be so easily dissuaded.

“I was very persistent in my endeavors, I really wanted to prove to her, myself and the community that I could handle this,” said Callwood. “I remember sitting down with my mother and my grandmother just figuring out what all this means, because I’m 7, so it’s just like, what do you mean nonprofit, for profit, organization, movement, incorporation, what are all these big words?”

It wasn’t long before she had put together the foundations for the We Cancerve movement, a youth-led nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children facing situations similar to her own.

“We were able to decide on having a nonprofit with a target audience of homeless sick and foster children specifically,” said Callwood. “We’ve been able to broaden that ever since, but mainly sticking to those three. They’re all children put in sad situations that are not their fault.”

Another detail that sets We Cancerve apart from other charities is its staff.

“I was very keen on having an all-youth board of advisors, between the ages of 8 and 18, because I really admire the way that young people think,” said Callwood. “I think that young people are very solution driven and they are very swift, and oftentimes our innocence of not exactly knowing or being aware of all the potential issues helps us not be downtrodden by all of the potential issues. There aren’t as many what ‘ifs’, and it’s just really dealing with what is right in front of us, what we have access to, and using that to address the problem.”

Since its inception in 2012, We Cancerve has reached over 33,000 children worldwide, in addition to raising over $400,000 in donations. Some notable examples of the movements accomplishments include Camp Happy, a free summer enrichment camp for homeless children, Brunch Box, a program to provide food to struggling families and several other programs offering recreation and fun for struggling children. Callwood’s full Impact Series Workshop speech can be found on the Watson Institute’s YouTube channel.