Stevie Wonder’s We Are You Foundation CEO Aundrae Russell presented Lucas Pelayo with Wayfinder Family Services’ annual Stevie Wonder Star Student Award during the nonprofit’s holiday celebration in 2023.
The Stevie Wonder Star Student Award was established in 2014 to celebrate Wayfinder’s 60 years of serving children, youth and adults who are blind or visually impaired and to honor Stevie Wonder, a longtime supporter and member of Wayfinder’s board of directors.
“Lucas is not afraid of anything, he is fearless, intelligent and has tried so many new things at Wayfinder’s Camp Bloomfield … he has also been raising awareness for those with visual impairments and I look forward to seeing the kind of man he will become,” said Russell.
Lucas accepted the award and thanked Russell and Wonder. He also shared, “I really enjoy my time at Wayfinder programs because before then, I really didn’t know anyone like me or anyone who understood my situation, so it feels really nice to be here!”
After the award ceremony, Russell presented a generous donation to Wayfinder, “I toured Wayfinder this morning and there are some amazing things happening here. I am so pleased to present this gift from the We Are You Foundation and Stevie Wonder so that all of this good work can continue changing lives.”
“Stevie Wonder, the We Are You Foundation and KJLH have been supporting Wayfinder for nearly 20 years. Donations of this size aren’t easy to come by and I am so grateful to you all for this generous gift. I’m also incredibly grateful to Lucas, our Stevie Wonder Star Student, who is an inspiration to us all.”
Pelayo is visually impaired due to a retinal detachment and can only see with his right eye. This has not deterred him from competing on a swim team, becoming a handball expert, bicycling, learning how to sew and playing the piano. An enthusiastic participant in Wayfinder’s recreation programs for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, he learned to ski at a Wayfinder field trip and most recently attended Wayfinder’s first inclusive Camp Bloomfield session. This session integrated children with visual impairment and their sighted peers. Lucas enjoyed rock climbing races, high ropes courses and Rubik’s cube contests among many other activities. In his camp application, Lucas shared, “I want to go to this inclusion session so that sighted kids can acknowledge those of us with vision impairment and include us more. We are more alike than we think!”
