Ava Wood Stupendous Love Scholarship Fund
Organized by
Heather Wood
Heather Wood
$0
Raised of $10,000 goal
100% tax-deductibleNo fees
100% goes to scholarship recipients
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Our story
Ava should be remembered for the way she made people feel.
She had this quiet, powerful way of seeing others, really seeing them, and making them feel like they mattered. Not for what they achieved or how they showed up on paper, but simply for who they were. In a world that often pressures people to fit in, Ava stood comfortably in her own uniqueness, and in doing so, gave others permission to do the same.
She was joyful in a way that felt effortless and contagious. Ava could find something to laugh about in almost any moment, and she didn’t hold back, she laughed loudly, fully, and without apology. Those ordinary, everyday moments, sitting with friends, playing sports, showing up for the people she loved, were never actually ordinary when she was part of them. She made them meaningful.
Ava was also deeply inclusive. She noticed when someone was left out and instinctively made space for them. She chose kindness without needing recognition. She led without needing a title. She loved without condition.
If there is one way to capture her legacy, it is this: Ava didn’t wait for big moments to live fully. She lived fully in every moment she was given.
That is how I want her to be remembered. Not only for who she was, but for how she lived, and for the standard she set for all of us to live a little more boldly, a little more openly, and a lot more connected.
This fund is simply an extension of that life, ensuring that her way of showing up in the world continues through others.
Our goal
We are starting the Ava Wood Memorial Scholarship Fund because one scholarship was never going to be enough to carry the kind of impact Ava had in this world.
Ava lived in a way that most people spend a lifetime trying to figure out. She made people feel seen. She chose kindness without hesitation. She stood in her own uniqueness without shrinking to fit in. She found joy in ordinary moments and brought others into it with her. That was her way, bold, inclusive, real, and deeply human.
When her life was taken far too soon on January 20, 2023, the loss was immeasurable. But so was the response. Her story reached people across the world, and with it came a shared realization, the way Ava lived matters. It is needed. It is teachable. And it is worth continuing.
This fund is how we do that.
The Ava Wood Memorial Scholarship Fund exists to recognize and invest in young people who live “the Ava way”, students who choose compassion over comparison, who lead with authenticity, who include others when it is easier not to, and who show up fully, even in the messy middle of life. These are not always the loudest or most decorated students. They are the ones quietly changing the culture around them.
Our goal is to expand from a single scholarship into a growing, sustainable fund that can support multiple students each year, across communities, backgrounds, and experiences. We want to remove barriers, create opportunity, and send a clear message to recipients, who you are matters more than any title or accolade.
But this is bigger than financial support.
This fund is about building a movement of lived values. It is about creating a ripple effect where one student impacts a school, a community, a future workplace, a family. It is about choosing to live boldly and love deeply, not someday, but now.
Every dollar given is not just a donation. It is a decision to carry forward a way of living that the world desperately needs more of.
We are not just honoring Ava’s memory.
We are continuing her impact.