GrassROOTS Community Foundation

01/16/2026

Here is some more content from Marley Dias’ trip to Jamaica, where she visited communities most impacted by Hurricane Melissa; helping to provide relief and hope that the homes of families will be rebuilt and their children will soon be able to return to school. So far, she has raised approximately $3,100 toward her $5,000 goal.

At GrassROOTS, we aim to convey the true power of service: the power of showing up, rebuilding communities, and standing with families just like our own in moments of need. Throughout her time there, Marley spent time with families and played with young children, offering them moments of light in the midst of recovery🇯🇲💚

01/15/2026

👨🏾‍🦱Meet Theodore; a devoted father and provider. After Hurricane Melissa, Theodore’s home was completely demolished, leaving him and his two sons without a safe place to live. In a previous post, we shared Marley Dias’ birthday fundraising initiative, which is dedicated to supporting Theodore and families like his who have been displaced and cannot afford to rebuild on their own. In partnership with GrassROOTS Community Foundation, Marley reaffirms that together, we can rebuild family homes and restore stability 🏠🇯🇲✨

The link to donate and support families like Theodore’s is in our bio👨🏾‍🦱👦🏾👦🏾🇯🇲

01/14/2026

Furthering our hurricane relief initiative in Jamaica, GrassROOTS Community Foundation kicked off the new year by returning to Flanker, St. James to support and uplift Jamaica’s youth through literacy-focused efforts. Last year, we shared the exciting news of Marley Dias launching her book club, Dreamers Book Club.

Marley is currently in Jamaica alongside our president, Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, where she met with local youth and read her own book, Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You, reminding each child that they too have the power to “get it done.” 35 girls attended the book club meeting, and each received a book bag filled with essential school supplies🙌🏾📚!

At the close of the book club session, Marley left the girls with words of motivation, encouragement, and a meaningful challenge: for every book they complete, they will receive a new one. Jamaica’s youth deserves the space to embrace their creativity and imagination. Through literacy initiatives, like Dreamers Book Club, we can help young people not only dream, but imagine and build a new reality👧🏾👧🏾📚🙌🏾🇯🇲

01/14/2026

01/07/2026

Libraries are safe, critical spaces that allow the kids in our communities to embrace their creativity and prioritize literacy🎨.

These spaces act as powerful anchor institutions that help to reduce crime and uplift our environment.

In 2026, we will continue our work with the St. James Public Library, building on the podcast room and extending into the reference room and the children’s room. We are super excited to continue collaborating with other organizations on throughout the year, especially during May which is Child Month and has Read Across Jamaica Day📚🙌🏾

Join us and don’t forget to bring your library card😉📚👧🏾👦🏾⭐️!!!

01/05/2026

SuperGirl Marley Dias, founder of , is now 21🎂.

Her birthday wish is to provide families in Jamaica with hurricane relief.

Being born to a Jamaican mom has made this wish a deeply personal one.

Also as a proud daddy’s girl, Marley feels especially called to support Theodore and his twin sons in St. James, Jamaica. As a father working to protect and provide for his children in the aftermath of the storm, Theodore’s story reflects the very heart of why this initiative matters: to ensure that parents have the resources they need to keep themselves and their children safe.

Since October 28th, families like Theodore’s have been living without the security of a proper roof over their heads.

In partnership with GrassROOTS, Marley affirms that we can help build back family homes🏠.

The link to donate to her fundraising birthday effort is in our bio now. Share it and give today!



🎂🩷

01/05/2026

Happy New Year GrassROOTS family. We are grateful for your unwavering support.

12/30/2025

Our New Year Countdown has officially begun🥳🎊🎉!!! GrassROOTS is grounded in community engagement and driven by a commitment to literacy for all👧🏾👦🏾📖. Let’s revisit how we turned these values into action during the first half of the year:

Slides 1-3: Right at the start of the year in January, we traveled to Jamaica to encourage literacy and menstrual equity for young girls🇯🇲

Slides 4-5: In February, author, activist, and GrassROOTS Community member, Marley Dias, gave the opening remarks at a literary event, The Big Read Cape Cod, centered around award-winning author, Claudia Rankine, and her book “Citizen: An American Lyric”📖

Slides 6-7: In March, Dr. Janice Johnson Dias spoke to fellow scholars at the Summit Weekend 2025 conference: “The Power of Collective Dreaming”🎤

Slides 8-10: April brought our GrassROOTS and community to South Africa where we distributed menstrual products to young girls at school. We then met with menstrual equity advocate, Sherida Stevens, to plan meetings regarding the matter🩸🇿🇦

Slides 11-12: Huge accomplishments in May🥳📖!!!! For starters, a children’s library opened up in Los Angeles and after a student vote, the ICEF View Park Elementary and Middle School’s library was named after GrassROOTS’ very own, Marley Dias 🥳👧🏾📚🎊!!! Super proud😍🙌🏾!!! 💚

Slides 13-14: And in June, our annual Roots, Rock, Run 5k (R3) took place globally 🌍🌎, in Philly, Ghana, and South Africa! Our community showed up, and showed out💚🏃🏾‍♀️💪🏾!

Stay tuned to see how we spent our last 6 months🙌🏾💚💪🏾🌍📚…..

#2026

12/29/2025

We are deeply grateful that the community of Flanker, specially the young people, had the opportunity to interact and spend time with musician and philanthropist, Busta Rhymes. In every interaction with young people, his presence was intimate and thoughtful. He took time to tie oversized bags onto their backs, held people closely and genuinely, looked them directly

in their eyes, and reduced any distance between himself and them. Each hug reflected a deep kindness and shared humanity.

The heart of GrassROOTS’ work is grounded in showing compassion, practicing care, and building relationships.

We will continue this work as we move into the next phase of our journey—raising funds that will help us strengthen and sustain the recovery effort.

We want to ensure that caregivers have safe roofs and stable homes for their children👧🏾👦🏾🇯🇲💚💛🖤

12/27/2025

We hope you and your loved ones are enjoying the last bit of the year and the holiday season🎄📚! We at GrassROOTS spent our holiday season and . Some of our accomplishments during this holiday season include:

- Feeding 300 families through our Turkey Challenge in November
- Delivering more than 20,000 pounds of essential supplies to communities in Jamaica amid Hurricane Melissa
- Marley Dias releasing her new book
“I Am the Dream Come True” 🙌🏾😍📚
- Broadcasting our “Recover with Dignity” initiative across Jamaica on CVM Television, where our founder Dr. Janice Johnson Dias and the founder of , Shelly Ann Weeks, spoke on period poverty and our efforts towards providing access to resources for girls in need
- Began building Jamaica’s first ever podcast room in a public library 📚🎙️
-Hosted a holiday celebration at St.James Parish Library in Jamaica for the youth in the area!

More impact, more community, and so much more to come🙌🏾😍📚🇯🇲!!!

12/24/2025

Happy Christmas Eve🤩🇯🇲🎨🎅🏾🎁📚🎄🍭💞👦🏾👧🏾!

Here’s some more content from our Christmas A Keep party at St. James Parish Library in Jamaica😍🎄🎅🏾👦🏾👧🏾🇯🇲📚🎄

Brought to life by GrassROOTS Community Foundation and , this celebration gave young children the chance to make art, enjoy fun rides, and savor sweet treats 🍭😋🍪. Events like this are essential during the holiday season🎁! We should always ensure that the kids in our communities are experiencing joy and embracing their creativity🎨🤗👧🏾👦🏾🇯🇲🎄📚🎁🍭💞!

12/22/2025

🎄🇯🇲GrassROOTS, in partnership with the St. James Parish Library, hosted a joyful Christmas A Keep party filled with games, laughter, and creativity📚🇯🇲👸🏾🎄🎅🏾🤶🏾!!!!

Children enjoyed an art workshop led by the HerFlow Foundation, a bouncy ride, face painting, and a hot lunch.

Each of the 111 children in attendance also received their own Christmas gift, making the day one of celebration, care, and connection.

This event gave us a chance to create spaces where children feel seen and celebrated, especially during the holidays.

Celebrations are more important than ever since Hurricane Melissa. We must cultivate and sustain joy for ourselves and for the children. What a great start to the holidays🎄💚👧🏾👦🏾🤩!!!