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Making The Difference In The Lives Of Our Youth
(Continuing The Legacy)
For as long as I can remember, I have desired children and saw myself as being a loving and caring parent. I was privileged to have that opportunity to experience love in a way that most parents deem indescribable. From the moment I held my son in my arms, I wanted the very best for him. As a parent, you know what it feels like to look into those precious eyes, hold those tiny fingers and imagine all the things your child will learn and experience in his life. You can dream as far as the ends of the earth and as high as the heavens, because in your mind nothing is impossible for them. You see visions of happy times and joyous days ahead filled with opportunities for success.
As your child grows with each passing day, you love, you laugh and you learn together. And most of all, you continue to dream. I’ve learned through my journey of life that dreams don’t always come true. Some dreams never become a reality and are aborted before they are fulfilled. I know that all to well.
One early morning, my husband, Mark, and I were awakened by the knock at the door from a Virginia State trooper with the untimely news that our son died from injuries sustained in a car accident. I experienced that moment of emptiness that comes in the pit of your stomach and the soon to follow anger that penetrates your thoughts because you feel as if you just had your heart ripped out. Nothing can prepare you for the death of your child. Somehow we embrace the hope that we will pass away from this life before our children. It is just the way life is supposed to be. So to say the least, I felt robbed. I felt pain to the very core of my being to the point that it hurt to breathe. Most of all, I felt as if the dream was gone.
My son was my very life. He was my one and only child. Although, I had been like a mother to many throughout the years, Clyde Elton Woodroffe, IV, was my very own child, whom I birth into this world. He was 21 years old when his earthly life was snatched from him. He was a very strong, creative and sensitive young man with dreams and aspirations of doing great things to affect the lives of young people. In fact, he had just come into his own and realized that he wanted to be an advocate for children. He wanted to be a guide to children and he wanted to demonstrate his love for children. He was a child development provider in the Minnieland SAC program and found great joy in his work. Knowing that he wanted to work with children was great news to me, because I have been an educator in the public school system in the state of Virginia for twenty years and contributed additional years as an educator in the state of New York. Educating and making a difference in the lives of young people was my dream also. Fortunately, I have been given the time and opportunity to fulfill my dream. My son was not given the same chance to fulfill his dream. In his innocence, and to no fault of his own, his life was taken.The life of the dreamer is gone, but his dream still lives on. I am the dream keeper continuing his legacy. With faith, perseverance and commitment, I will make the dreams of my son realized through the Clyde E. Woodroffe IV Foundation.
The Clyde E. Woodroffe IV Foundation is taking a proactive role in implementing important initiatives geared at helping our youth realize their potential. Our purpose is to motivate our youth to strive to develop educationally, culturally, socially and spiritually. Through this foundation, we hope to collectively continue to pass on knowledge and information to the younger generations and instill a sense of purpose and pride as they pursue their dreams. Our heartfelt desire is to change, impact, affect, impart and develop our future leaders to accomplish all that they were put on this earth to achieve. Let’s equip our youth to be leaders; let’s take a stand in partnership to transform and catapult our youth into magnificent men and women. Let’s witness our youth touching and changing the world with their presence.
Join us in this effort by making voluntary contributions of money for scholarships and support programs, in an effort to reach our youth. America is so desperate for answers to the growing problems that plague our youth today. The CEWIV Foundation, with your assistance, have solutions that will make a difference in the lives of these young people.
