Harford's Grace Callwood named 2016 Nickelodeon HALO Award honoree

We Cancerve Movement Founder Grace E.G. Callwood, age 12, of Harford County, is a 2016 Nickelodeon HALO Awards Honoree, and will be recognized during a concert special honoring her and three other young community leaders who are changing the world by "Helping and Leading Others," or HALO.

The concert, which will feature performers Jason Derulo, Hailee Steinfeld, Zedd, Alessia Cara and Daya, will be held at New York's Pier 36 and will be simulcast Sunday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m. across Nickelodeon, TeenNick and Nicktoons, according to a Nickelodeon news release.

"The 2016 Nickelodeon HALO Awards honorees are truly outstanding role models for this young generation and I can't wait to celebrate them at this one-of-a-kind concert event," Nick Cannon, who is the show's host, creator and executive producer, said in a statement. "The passion and commitment of these four teens have enabled them to bring about social change, helping thousands of kids around the world and inspiring countless others. That's what HALO is all about."

Callwood is being recognized for the work she and an all-youth board of advisors do to bring happiness to homeless, sick and foster children through Callwood's We Cancerve Movement, Inc.

She established the organization in 2012, shortly after being diagnosed with Stage IV non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After gaining weight from the chemotherapy, Callwood donated her brand-new back-to-school clothes to two girls who had recently lost everything in a fire. This decision inspired Callwood to start the We Cancerve Movement, Inc., and to date, We Cancerve has served 3,743 homeless, sick and foster youth with plans to add another 1,300 by December 2016.

"I'm very honored to be a 2016 Nickelodeon HALO Awards Honoree. This award presents another opportunity for me to bring more awareness to helping homeless, sick and foster children, and to inspire my peers to make a difference in their communities," said Callwood, who is also the 2016 Children's Cancer Foundation Ambassador. "I am so glad to have so much support from my board of advisors, my community and my friends and family."

"My board of advisors has great ideas, gives advice and amazing feedback, and are very helpful," she continued. "From the start, I've had the support of my family and friends, and from countless people in our community who believe in the work that We Cancerve does for homeless, sick and foster children."

Callwood is a sixth-grade student at Edgewood Middle School, where she excels in math and reading, plays trumpet in the school band and serves on the Student Government Association.

Her school is holding an assembly on Friday "to show their support and pride for the honor Grace has received in being selected for the HALO award," Jillian Lader, Harford County Public Schools manager of communications, said.

Her group's next major project is the "Breakfast Bags Bonanza," a major stuffing party scheduled for Nov. 17 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Havre de Grace, where the community is invited to help decorate and fill brown paper sacks with nonperishable breakfast items for 500 homeless and hungry young people in Harford County for the Thanksgiving break.

To date, We Cancerve has donated more than $9,000 in cash grants to Sinai Hospital, Casey Cares Foundation, Harford Family House, Anna's House, Eastside Family Emergency Shelter and the Sharing Table, and plus more than $23,000 in products to more than seven homeless shelters, four hospitals and a group home for children in foster care.

We Cancerve has established an accumulator fund with the Community Foundation of Harford County (CFHC). The We Cancerve Accumulator Fund will eventually become a permanent fund of CFHC to support the work of the We Cancerve Movement. Contributions made to the Community Foundation of Harford County are tax-deductible, and can be designated to the We Cancerve Accumulator Fund.

The Community Foundation of Harford County is a 501(c)(3) public charity (nonprofit) supported by the community through donations. For more information, visit www.wecancerve.org.