08-20-2023 Harford Magazine - Flipbook - Page 11
received $155,000 in awards and raised over
$500,000 in donations, according to the We
Cancerve website. Among the nonprofit’s programs are Books and Buddies, which provides
books and stuffed animals to children undergoing chemotherapy treatments; Camp Happy, a
summer camp for homeless children at Anna’s
House in Bel Air; and her passion project, the
Threads of Hope Closet, which offers clothing to
students in need.
Geannine Darby, director of major gifts and
clinician engagement at LifeBridge Health, said
Callwood sets an example for youth looking to
make an impact.
“I think what Grace is modeling is showing
others her age and even younger that you don’t
have to be an adult and you don’t have to have a
degree to make a difference in the world,” said
Darby, who served as the primary liaison for the
We Cancerve Pediatric Patients Assistance fund
at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, where Callwood
was treated.
As Callwood moves onto college, she is passing the baton at We Cancerve to a new student
leader, who will chair the nonprofit’s all-youth
board. Zachary Gwiazda, a 14-year-old Bel Air
High School student, first became involved with
the organization as a volunteer packing lunch
bags for the needy.
“It was kids in our community that were hun-
gry and food insecure and I wanted to make sure
that they had food,” said Gwiazda in an interview
with his school’s newspaper, The Bellarion.
Callwood will continue her involvement as a
member of the organization’s board of directors
as the chief executive and chief engagement
officer.
“We Cancerve is something that will continue
to grow and change just as I had,” Callwood said.
“I’ve been able to happily name a new chair of
the board and a new set of board members that
will be able to continue the work and keep up
the lively and youthful spirit of my organization.”
Callwood said she looks forward to the internships and connections that living in Washington,
D.C, will bring. She hopes to enter politics to
bring about the policy changes that inspired her
youth such as addressing widespread hunger and
homelessness.
Ronald Smith, director and creator of the
Humanities and Social Sciences Program at
Howard University, said he is excited to see what
Callwood brings to the college.
“Grace jumped off the page when we were
reviewing her application, she is a remarkable
young woman,” Smith said. “Not only was she
very strong academically ... but it was those personal attributes and the commitments that she
made to others to try to improve their lives.”
Callwood will attend Howard University
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