A teenager raised more than US$20,000 to help 1,000 girls see A Wrinkle in Time, according to GoFundMe.
In an interview on Good Morning America, Taylor Richardson, 14, explained, “I wanted all girls, especially girls of colour, to know they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up and also can struggle and have flaws and still be successful in life.”
The campaign, which began in November 2017, had a goal of raising US$15,000 but at the time of this reporting, the initiative has raised US$21,692.
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The money raised will be used towards movie tickets and a private screening of A Wrinkle In Time. She also accounted for snacks for the audience in her fundraising goal.
Since the 14-year-old girl passed her goal, she will be using the extra money to buy 100 girls a copy of the book and the rest will go toward the Astronaut StarBright Space Camp scholarship.
On the GoFundMe page, Richardson explains why it’s so important to her to raise this money to provide this opportunity for other girls.
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She laid out the cost breakdown on her GoFundMe page as follows: US$13 per child ticket; US$10 refreshments per child; US$15 per chaperone ticket; US$15 refreshments per chaperone; and US$8.99 for the book for the first 100 girls.
This isn’t Richardson’s first time fundraising for a good cause. When she was nine, she raised enough money to send herself to space camp. The teen has dreams of pursuing a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
Last year Richardson also raised more than US$18,000 and hosted multiple screenings to help 1,000 girls see Hidden Figures in Jacksonville, Florida.
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Richardson’s mother, Latonja Richardson, said her daughter’s campaign results are “mind-blowing.”
“She has so much drive and determination and, on top of it, she’s a really great kid,” her mom told ABC News. “She takes time to pay it forward not just to girls that look like her but all kinds of kids all around the world. It’s mind-blowing.”
She added, “As a parent, it’s my due diligence to support her in every way I can.”
A Wrinkle in Time hits theatres on March 9.
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