Walter Weatherford Memorial Fund for at-risk youth
Donation protected
On November 16, 2020 my son Walter succumbed to the Glioblastoma brain tumor he had fought for the last 14 months. While I lost my wonderful son, the world lost a brilliant business consultant, a fighter, an awesome friend, and most importantly a loving and giving person.
Walter's early life was one of abandonment, pain and hunger. At the age of 12 his father and I brought him into our home and he has been our son ever since. He struggled at first with new guidelines and restrictions, but he eventually thrived graduating from Camarillo High school and attending and graduating from Abilene Christian University, in Abilene, TX, with a degree in Political Science and Bible. After college he moved to Nashville for a while but eventually returned to his roots in Camarillo, CA.
He began working out with a vengeance learning the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Boxing to add to what he had learned in Wrestling during High School. When not working as a business consultant, Walter could be found at one gym or another, but usually at KnuckleHeadz Boxing gym in Ventura (the cover picture is of Walter and Coach Janik, his coach and mentor and the owner of KnuckleHeadz). He took all of these skills and began to fight MMA when he was not working. I remember one day when he had to meet with an Executive at Sony with two black eyes from a fight, but he walked away with the deal anyway.
However, while he was passionate about fighting and business, his one greatest love was helping others. He was loved working with the youth in Ventura County to help out the less fortunate, be it taking them under his wing and mentoring them, taking them to church with him or getting them involved in the sport he loved, knowing it would teach them discipline and respect. It is this love that we want to honor with this Memorial Fund.
In addition to getting the youth involved in the sport he loved, he also encouraged them to get an education. One young man he worked with and became great friends with was concerned about the amount of student loans he was taking out, and in a perfect Walter moment, Walter told him not to worry about them, and that going to school and taking out loans to do so was the best investment he had ever made, thus reassuring this young man and encouraging him to continue on with his education to finish his bachelor's degree and continue on for his masters degree so that he could become an addiction counselor and help others. This is just one of many stories you will hear when talking about Walter's great passion, helping young men and women overcome their past.
The purpose of the Walter Weatherford Memorial Fund is to continue his legacy of helping at-risk and disadvantaged youth in Ventura County, CA by providing funding so that they can learn the discipline of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and the skill of Boxing though KnuckleHeadz Boxing gym in Ventura. Walter's hope was that by providing these skills to kids and young adults it would teach them respect and give them an outlet for the anger and fear that many of them have grown up with, and allow them to become stronger and more productive citizens in the future.
I will be working with Coach Janik and the Board of KnuckleHeadz as they choose the teens and young adults who will qualify to receive this scholarship. The cost of one year of training is $1788 so each scholarship will be granted up to $2000 which would include helping with transportation costs to get to and from the gym, if need be.
In addition to providing funding for young men and women to attend classes at KnuckleHeadz in Ventura, I know that Walter was also passionate about encouraging his mentees to continue with their education by attending college, as can be noted in the paragraph above, and therefore, this fund will also be used to grant scholarships to at-risk and disadvantaged youth who would like to attend college or post-secondary training. The scholarships will be the same amount per year/per student as the ones for KnuckleHeadz ($2000). Between these two different options, we feel that Walter's legacy of helping and encouraging these young men and women will definitely be upheld.
We are eventually looking to partner with a non-profit organization in Ventura County, CA, (or creating one ourselves), but in the meantime, your gifts through this gofundme fund will get us started helping the youth here in Ventura County.
I am so proud of the man my son became, he was always my champion and had my back anytime I needed him, and even some times when I didn't think I did. I will miss him so much, and pray that his legacy is kept alive with this memorial scholarship fund.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for anything you can donate, and please make sure to share this with others as the more people who know about it, the more kids/young adults we can help.
Sandi Owens
Walter's early life was one of abandonment, pain and hunger. At the age of 12 his father and I brought him into our home and he has been our son ever since. He struggled at first with new guidelines and restrictions, but he eventually thrived graduating from Camarillo High school and attending and graduating from Abilene Christian University, in Abilene, TX, with a degree in Political Science and Bible. After college he moved to Nashville for a while but eventually returned to his roots in Camarillo, CA.
He began working out with a vengeance learning the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Boxing to add to what he had learned in Wrestling during High School. When not working as a business consultant, Walter could be found at one gym or another, but usually at KnuckleHeadz Boxing gym in Ventura (the cover picture is of Walter and Coach Janik, his coach and mentor and the owner of KnuckleHeadz). He took all of these skills and began to fight MMA when he was not working. I remember one day when he had to meet with an Executive at Sony with two black eyes from a fight, but he walked away with the deal anyway.
However, while he was passionate about fighting and business, his one greatest love was helping others. He was loved working with the youth in Ventura County to help out the less fortunate, be it taking them under his wing and mentoring them, taking them to church with him or getting them involved in the sport he loved, knowing it would teach them discipline and respect. It is this love that we want to honor with this Memorial Fund.
In addition to getting the youth involved in the sport he loved, he also encouraged them to get an education. One young man he worked with and became great friends with was concerned about the amount of student loans he was taking out, and in a perfect Walter moment, Walter told him not to worry about them, and that going to school and taking out loans to do so was the best investment he had ever made, thus reassuring this young man and encouraging him to continue on with his education to finish his bachelor's degree and continue on for his masters degree so that he could become an addiction counselor and help others. This is just one of many stories you will hear when talking about Walter's great passion, helping young men and women overcome their past.
The purpose of the Walter Weatherford Memorial Fund is to continue his legacy of helping at-risk and disadvantaged youth in Ventura County, CA by providing funding so that they can learn the discipline of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and the skill of Boxing though KnuckleHeadz Boxing gym in Ventura. Walter's hope was that by providing these skills to kids and young adults it would teach them respect and give them an outlet for the anger and fear that many of them have grown up with, and allow them to become stronger and more productive citizens in the future.
I will be working with Coach Janik and the Board of KnuckleHeadz as they choose the teens and young adults who will qualify to receive this scholarship. The cost of one year of training is $1788 so each scholarship will be granted up to $2000 which would include helping with transportation costs to get to and from the gym, if need be.
In addition to providing funding for young men and women to attend classes at KnuckleHeadz in Ventura, I know that Walter was also passionate about encouraging his mentees to continue with their education by attending college, as can be noted in the paragraph above, and therefore, this fund will also be used to grant scholarships to at-risk and disadvantaged youth who would like to attend college or post-secondary training. The scholarships will be the same amount per year/per student as the ones for KnuckleHeadz ($2000). Between these two different options, we feel that Walter's legacy of helping and encouraging these young men and women will definitely be upheld.
We are eventually looking to partner with a non-profit organization in Ventura County, CA, (or creating one ourselves), but in the meantime, your gifts through this gofundme fund will get us started helping the youth here in Ventura County.
I am so proud of the man my son became, he was always my champion and had my back anytime I needed him, and even some times when I didn't think I did. I will miss him so much, and pray that his legacy is kept alive with this memorial scholarship fund. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for anything you can donate, and please make sure to share this with others as the more people who know about it, the more kids/young adults we can help.
Sandi Owens
Organizer
Sandi Owens
Organizer
Thousand Oaks, CA