How to Raise Money to Pay for a Funeral
Birthed from fire and earth signs, both Cameron and his twin sister Morgan started life differently than most. Cameron’s parents were passionate about having a strong foundation for their kids to grow from. Cameron’s family valued education, entrepreneurship, “thinking bigger”, and doing important work that impacted others – values that would ultimately lead him to accomplish great things both during his life and afterwards. Cameron’s determination and dedication to these goals started early when he began leveraging technology to streamline his jobs, at the early age of 16. This passion and use of technology would later springboard him into his roles at Goldman Sachs and Domo, Inc.
Cameron first encountered health issues at the age of 19 while attending University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship. He was having difficulty seeing and a brain tumor was discovered. Rather than let this defeat him, Cameron had a renewed interest in working hard and clarifying what it was he wanted to accomplish in his lifetime. Cameron would spend the rest of his life dedicated to the cause of becoming a “champion of people”. He was impassioned around helping underserved populations accomplish their dreams, no matter the size. (Cameron would frequently say, “Dream big, and then, dream even bigger.”)
With this dedication to supporting his community, helping underserved populations build generational wealth and enter into high paying roles, Cameron was instrumental in integrating previously disenfranchised members of his community into positions of leadership and power. During this time, Cameron ended up with another brain tumor that would ultimately lead to his passing. Though he was determined to recover, Cameron ensured his loved ones were taken care of in the event that he passed by making his end of life desires clear and having a frank discussion with his family about what his continued legacy would look like. His desire to help his community grow has continued well after his passing, especially with the use of funds raised on his memorial website on Ever Loved.
While looking for ways to share news about Cameron’s passing, raise funds for his legacy, and connect Cameron’s extended family and broad community Morgan, Cameron’s twin sister, landed on Ever Loved. She referred to Ever Loved as “the catalyst that truly allowed them to share Cameron’s story”. Cameron’s memorial website on Ever Loved is full of stories, gratitude, photos, and memories from so many people he impacted, mentored, and helped along the way. Due to Cameron’s extroverted nature and involvement in his community, there were many, many people the family needed to inform and connect with surrounding his passing. Posting his memorial website allowed them to connect these different communities in Cameron’s life, all in one space.
The family was able to post funeral service information (including sharing Cameron’s specific request that everyone attending the services wear athleisure and sports wear!), share a detailed obituary and start raising money towards the profoundly impactful Cameron Russell Williams Diversity Impact Scholarship. This scholarship, (which raised over $78,000(!) on Cameron’s Ever Loved site) aims to continue Cameron’s legacy and desire to support his community through helping young black students, entrepreneurs and professionals pursue careers in tech.
The ability to have “one source of truth” (as opposed to ad-hoc posts on Facebook or other social media) for photos, memories, videos, donations, tributes, event information and other logistics surrounding Cameron’s passing was helpful to his family and allowed them a space to honor Cameron’s legacy in the long run.
With the funds raised on Ever Loved, the Williams family was able to create the Cameron Russell Williams Impact Fund (CRW). With this, Cameron’s family was able to:
- Establish the annual Cameron Williams Impact Award alongside Utah Business' In Living Color Gala (for which Cameron was the first recipient in memorandum).
- Launch an endowed scholarship alongside the David Eccels School of Business at the University to Utah named the Cameron Russell Williams Legacy Scholarship.
- Present the Cameron Russell Williams Rishing Impact Award along Governor Cox at the One Utah 2022 Summit, honoring a rising black tech leader in Utah.
- Sponsor 20 Black Utah Business leaders to attend the One Utah Summit to ensure there was diverse representation at a conversation that details the future of Utah.
