Rosevelt Sings’ beautiful heart is rivaled only by her angelic vocal abilities—a powerful coupling for making a difference in the lives of children.
Described as having “the voice of an angel and the heart of a warrior,” one might think Rosevelt sings for fame or fortune. However, the twist to this inspiring story, is that this 12-year-old uses her talent to raise funds for abused children through Childhelp, where she proudly serves as a youth ambassador. Although she's had the privilege of singing with the legendary Dick Van Dyke, Lindsey Stirling, William Joseph, and Evie Clair (to name a few), Rosevelt recounts a touching story that is the driving force behind what she does.
“One time, I went to a Childhelp Village and I met this girl about my age. While the girl was doing art therapy, she painted a picture of a heart in a hand because she heard of my #5TooMany challenge. Almost two years later I still have the painting hanging in my room to remind me of the importance of helping these abused children,” she shares.
#5TooMany was a challenge created by Rosevelt to honor the five children who die every day from abuse and neglect. She encouraged others to join the challenge in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, or anytime moving forward. Simply take a photo with a heart in your hand, post it on social media with the hashtag, encourage five friends to do the same and donate $5 to Childhelp.
“I want to raise $1 million dollars for these abused and neglected children with #RoseveltsChallenge (#5TooMany). I know that this is a big goal but I believe that if everyone that hears about my message will donate $5, or whatever they can donate, we CAN make a difference,” she says. “We all must be a voice for the voiceless.”
With $100,000 raised to date, Rosevelt is thrilled with her efforts, and so are the founders of Childhelp, Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson.
Rosevelt was introduced to the women by a good friend of her family. This led to an invitation for her to sing at their 60th Diamond Jubilee. It was an amazing night, culminating in a fundraising goal of $4 million dollars, which was reached.
So how did this bright light to give back ignite within Rosevelt?
She has five brothers, for whom she is a natural caretaker with a nurturing personality. She loves to sing, and has been in children's choirs since the age of 7. The distinction has always been and continues to be her motivation, rooted heavily in helping those in need rather than being in the spotlight.
“When Rosevelt was 9, my husband had the chance to interview Dick Van Dyke in his Malibu home. Rosevelt grew up watching The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Poppins, so we brought her along to meet him. Knowing he sings, I asked him if he would sing with her (just a simple song to capture on my cell phone). He agreed and when we showed up for the interview, the first question he asked us was, ‘Where’s the little girl I get to sing with?’
“The song they sang during that first meeting was ‘Anything you can do I can do better.’ It’s not exactly a Dick Van Dyke song, but they had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs! Fast-forward one year and Rosevelt had much more experience and vocal training. We had a great relationship with Mr. Van Dyke and his family, and didn’t hesitate to ask if they could collaborate on a real music video together. He agreed on one condition: the song must be ‘Rosie’ from Bye, Bye Birdie. He thought it only fitting that they sing that song since her name is Rosevelt.
To this day, only Mr. Van Dyke can call her Rosie. It was this experience and many others that have humbled Rosevelt—seeing Mr. Van Dyke's genuine kindness, passion for supporting children and down to earth disposition," says Rosevelt’s, mom Shurlin.
Rosevelt (RoseveltSings.com) also harnessed positive energy and found inspiration from a collaboration with Elizabeth Smart at her event, The Music and The Message.
“She is someone I look up to because she has gone through so much and she always stays strong,” Rosevelt says.
So, what is on the horizon for this young talent?
“I have teamed up with an amazing songwriter in Nashville named Jason Deere. I'm so excited for some original pieces entitled My Own and Somebody's Child to be released in the next few months.”
Rosevelt feels one of the first songs she sang live best summarizes her journey and what is yet to come.
“A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman is one of my personal favorites because it talks about how we all have big dreams and we can accomplish anything we put our minds to,” she says.