In the summer of 1993, a gentleman named Ken Callum gave our founder, Lawrence Walker, an opportunity to work with the City of Colorado Springs' youth summer program. Having thoroughly enjoyed working with younger children, Lawrence was asked to return the following years to work with the both the summer and after school programs. One particular summer, the City of Colorado Springs partnered with the Colorado Rockies, a professional baseball team, to teach the youth the game of baseball. Although he had virtually no experience playing baseball, he found himself teaching amongst a crew of seasoned high school and college baseball players. At the end of the summer, Lawrence received recognition as the most improved player of the program.
Having given Lawrence and countless other children opportunities, Coach Callum positively impacted the world. Because his efforts made an indelible mark on Lawrence's life, he decided to pay it forward by dedicating his life to working with children in various capacities including starting mentoring programs to expose children to culture and the arts and bridge the gap from potential to opportunity.
Through many interactions with some of Chicago's youth, it became apparent that many of them had not been exposed to things that we ordinarily take for granted (i.e. trips to the many museums, site seeing in downtown Chicago, going to Navy Pier). The unfortunate reality is that some children who were born and raised in Chicago have been deprived of "field trips" that most take for granted.
As a father of four beautiful daughters, who will each have the benefit of experiencing what the world has to offer, Lawrence realized that there are many children that aren't afforded the same opportunities. In July of 2015, words were put into action and the W6 Foundation was created with an ultimate goal to add color to the lives of inner city youth thus allowing them to see the beauty that Chicago and the world offers. This mission is broad in scope intentionally, but with a clear vision.