Photos courtesy of Shuanta Renae
Deja King Foundation scholarship recipients from 2017. In order to be considered by the Deja King Foundation, participants must write a 300-word essay explaining why they believe they should be a recipient.
When King was six months old, she was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis. The doctors told her mother, Shuanta Renae, that she would be lucky if her daughter lived to be more than a year old.
Twenty-one years later, King is now a high school graduate. In 2015, the same year her daughter graduated from Spain Park High School, Renae started the Deja King Foundation in her honor.
“I knew that she wasn’t going to be able to go to college, so I decided that I wanted to do something to bless somebody else with what they would need for college in her honor,” Renae said.
The original goal of the foundation was to provide an upcoming college student with materials they might need, but it ended up becoming much larger than that.
Due to the materials Renae received, she was able to provide not one, but five soon-to-be-graduates with supplies they would need to start college that year.
In the years following, she has been able to select more than 75 more winners — 25 of which received their supplies this graduation season.
In order to be considered by the Deja King Foundation, participants must write a 300-word essay explaining why they believe they should be a winner.
From there, Renae and a panel of judges evaluate the submissions and determine the winners, which they announce and celebrate at the Deja King Trunk Party each year.
To prepare for the trunk party, Renae and volunteers hold a donation drive where people can donate materials such as comforters, mini fridges, microwaves, toiletries, towels and anything else one might need to start college.
“They’re starting over, they’re leaving their moms’ house and some of them are starting off on their own for the first time. They need everything,” Renae said. “Our goal is to help students move forward in their endeavors to college, and help take some of the burden off the parents.”
Through the foundation, Renae said she has been able to truly help others in a way that only a parent could.
“I gained more children than the two that I already have,” Renae said. “The students are grateful, and I build relationships with them. They still call me even after they’ve gone on to college to let me know what their grades are and how they’ve adjusted.”
According to Renae, the previous year’s recipients come back and volunteer for the next year as well, maintaining that relationship.
“I’m that other mother for them when they can’t talk to their own,” Renae said. “I’m their comfort zone and somebody who cares as much as their own family.”
Due to the rapid growth in the last few years, Renae said she sees the foundation getting bigger than what it is now.
“If God did this in four years, I can’t imagine what he’ll do in the years to come,” Renae said.
