In July of 2019, the world was shocked and devastated to learn that beloved actor and former child star Cameron Boyce had passed away due to complications from epilepsy at the young age of 20 years old.
Soon after, moved both by grief and the desire to honor their son, Cameron’s parents Victor and Libby Boyce began work on The Cameron Boyce Foundation, which supports epilepsy research as well as supports various causes and movements that were close to Cameron’s heart.
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Diply had the honor of sitting down with Victor and Libby to discuss the Foundation and their reaction to the incredible amount of love and support both the Foundation and their family has received in the wake of tragedy.
The Cameron Boyce Foundation was put into motion incredibly quickly after Cameron’s passing.
“It happened almost immediately,” Victor said. “In a way, it was just a reaction to the suddenness and the way we were blind-sided by his passing. We needed something to grab a hold of, to keep his work going, to keep his philanthropy and community service going,” Victor told Diply.
“It was almost a distraction from the reality of how horrible it was for us to deal with his passing. It kind of grew organically from there, but it happened almost immediately. Days after he passed,” he said.
While the Foundation was received support from many celebrities, including advisory board members Adam Sandler and Salma Hayek, the support from Cameron’s fans have had a bigger impact on the Boyce’s.
“The thing that’s more impressive, heartfelt to us is not so much the people he worked with, but just his fanbase. Mostly younger people, a lot of people that don’t have a lot, and they support us and Cameron no matter what their personal situations are,” Victor said. “They’ve been supporting the foundation with small donations since we started and it’s really helpful. It’s amazing that the support keeps coming in.”
Victor added that they’ve been contacted by fans who also have epilepsy who feel a personal connection with the work the Foundation is doing.
“A lot of people have reached out to us to tell us how much Cameron meant to them personally and especially once it was disclosed that he had epilepsy. A lot of people who felt disenfranchised and cast out or discriminated against because of their epilepsy, feel a kindred spirit with Cameron and they can talk about it and appreciate our efforts to bring help to them,” Victor said. “Our biggest emotional connection is with those people because they’re who we’re trying to help.”
“Obviously, we know how special he was, he was part of our family. He was our son. But somehow the public understands that and we’re not quite sure exactly what it is about him that got that across,” Libby told Diply.
Libby also opened up about the Foundation’s support for causes close to Cameron’s heart, like Inner City Arts, a provider for arts education for disenfranchised communities.
Libby told Diply, “It’s no secret that Cameron was very, very in touch with the fact that creativity helped him and helped a lot of people express their emotions and any frustration, anger, things that have a negative impact on our lives. Creativity is the thing that can address those issues. Because of that, it was really important for us to try to provide those opportunities to young people.”
“We researched a number of organizations locally and this particular organization is in Skid Row and really does a lot of outreach to disenfranchised communities, communities of color, in areas where people have less access to these kinds of resources and opportunities,” she said.
A huge focus and goal of The Cameron Boyce Foundation is epilepsy research. Victor told us, “As parents, we don’t want anybody else to endure the pain and to go through what we went through. Ultimately, this could be preventable, and our focus and goal is to help find a cure for epilepsy.”
“We are a very open and honest family and we are a very close family. Being open about this process helps us heal,” Libby told Diply.
“We feel as though in a lot of ways Cameron left a road map to human beings in general, and it’s our duty to follow that roadmap and he inspires us every day to do so. Even though he’s not here physically with us he’s in our hearts all the time. Everything we do now as human beings is thought of and from the lens of what we think Cameron would want. We see it as our duty to talk about these things and act on these things. He was a leader on that front in our family, and now that his voice is gone, it’s up to us,” Libby told us.
The work the Boyce family has done and continues to do to honor Cameron’s legacy is impressive and inspiring. If you would like to learn more about The Cameron Boyce Foundation, the causes they’ve supported, and how to support them yourself, you can do so right here on their website .
