Madison Wilson, a 7-year-old elementary student from Santa Barbara County, California, has raised more than $23,000 on her GoFundMe to buy skin-colored crayons and multicultural books for her school, the Washington Post reported.
What We Know:
- A few months ago, Madison was watching “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” when her mother, Vashti, heard her exclaim, “Finally, there’s a brown person!” Vashti, now 34, explained that when she was a child she rarely saw characters in her favorite books that looked like her, something her daughter has begun to notice herself.
- Saying the characters in most movies are “peach people,” Madison expressed her frustration that there wasn’t a brown color in her crayon box that represented her skin color when she drew pictures of herself. Madison learned that Crayola was releasing a new box of colors titled “Colors of the World” that features 24 colors representing people of different races and ethnicities. She wanted to buy some new crayons for her school as well as new books that include characters of color.
- The impact of COVID-19 would require every child to have their own box so they decided to start a fundraiser. An original GoFundMe goal of $3,000 was surpassed quickly, racking in more than $23,000 since June 19. This is enough to buy books, crayons and construction paper for the nearly 500 students at Madison’s school as well as four other schools in the Santa Barbara area.
- “It’s important, because when a child doesn’t see someone like them in a book, they feel left out,” Madison said. “We will be able to draw ourselves like real people in all skin colors,” she added. “I think it will make my friends and me happy.”
Crayola has not released the new crayon set or replied to Madison and Vashti who have reached out to the company a half-dozen times. Nevertheless, the duo is hoping to purchase 3,000 boxes of crayons when they’re available. We wish them great success!
