He planted love. We are helping it grow.

During the final weeks of his life, Jelani Washington was planning his biggest garden yet. Even through terrible pain, he found joy in choosing seeds and starter plants with his mom, planting them, and tending his “plant babies.” He looked forward to transplanting them outdoors. He did not live long enough to see that garden grow beneath the sun.

The Jelani Washington Seeds of Hope (JWSH) Foundation sprang from his family’s love for him and his love for others. We hope the garden he wanted to plant can become bigger than he ever imagined—a living legacy whose harvest is hope, happiness, health, awareness, and goodwill.

We are because he was.

Jelani was caring, kind, generous, brave, inquisitive, and socially conscious. At only 15, even while facing his own illness, he worried about his family and felt compassion for the younger children he saw during chemotherapy appointments.

During clinic visits, he was offered books through Kate’s Kart, a nonprofit created in a child’s memory. Thinking of how much he and his twin, Azaria, had loved being read to, he gathered books for his baby sisters, Everlee and Eden, so they could have their own library. His instinct was to turn something offered to him into a gift for someone else.

His love of gardening had equally deep roots. At two years old, he visited the hunger-relief garden of his great-uncle, Ephraim Smiley, Jr., founder of Smiley’s Gardening Angels in Fort Wayne. Gardening became a source of curiosity, responsibility, patience, generosity, and joy throughout Jelani’s life.

Reflecting on his generosity, his concern for other children, and his love for plants, his mom imagined a cart or kiosk inspired by Kate’s Kart—sharing seeds, starter plants, encouragement, and living reminders of hope. That idea became a seed for this Foundation.

Turning lived experience into purpose

We hope the Foundation will grow and mature in the ways Jelani never had the chance to. We want to help other children and families in some of the ways we could not find help, preserve the essence of who he was, and carry his light forward.

Our mission is rooted in family and organized around five objectives. Together, they connect the comfort we can begin offering now with the lasting support we hope to build.

1. Plant Hope
Share gardens, seeds, plants, and growing experiences that bring comfort, beauty, and joy to children and families.

2. Empower Youth
Help young people grow in confidence, environmental responsibility, healthy living, leadership, and service to others.

These first two objectives are our short-term priorities: tangible ways to carry Jelani’s love of the natural world and generous spirit into the lives of others.

3. Raise Awareness
Increase understanding of Renal Medullary Carcinoma (RMC) and other pediatric cancers through education, outreach, and partnership. Awareness is central to our purpose, already underway, and will continue for the life of the Foundation.

4. Support Families
Build toward offering practical compassion, financial assistance, and connections to resources for children, caregivers, siblings, and bereaved families. Our lived experience informs our belief that families should not have to exhaust their financial stability to support a child facing cancer.

5. Build Legacy
Honor the importance of family and help preserve a child’s possibilities, memory, voice, values, and lasting impact—including through fertility-preservation awareness. This objective reflects Jelani’s deep love for his family and his concern for their future.

Support Families and Build Legacy are ambitious long-term goals. Bringing them fully to life will require funding, partnerships, and sustained work. We are optimistic about what we can build together, while being honest about the journey ahead.

Be a Light Like Jelani

Your gift to Seeds of Hope will help advance the Foundation’s mission—beginning with planting hope, empowering youth, and continuing awareness work, while building the capacity for broader family support and legacy initiatives.

Donate, share this campaign, volunteer, fundraise, sponsor, or partner with us. Each act of generosity helps carry Jelani’s spirit forward.

Help grow Jelani’s dream of the largest garden ever into a living legacy of light during dark times.

Seeds of Hope for Children Fighting Cancer

Help Grow Jelani's Dream of the Largest Garden Ever Into a Living Legacy of Light During Dark Times

Team Members