When Bellen Woodard was in third grade, a classmate asked her to pass the “skin- colored crayon.” Bellen handed a peach crayon to her friend. The crayon matched the skin color of most of Bellen’s classmates. But it didn’t match hers. “It made me feel not as important— like there’s only one skin color,” says Bellen, who’s now in middle school. “People’s skin can be any number of beautiful colors.”
Most boxes of crayons don’t have enough shades to represent all skin colors. That’s why Bellen started the More Than Peach Project in 2019. With her own money, she ordered crayons in 12 different skin tones. She donated the crayons to schools near her home in Leesburg, Virginia.
The project was so popular that Bellen began selling her crayons. “I wanted to make sure that everyone has a crayon that represents them,” says Bellen.