Empowering Scholars in Memory of Emerald Butcher.
We are proud to announce the 2026 recipients of the Emerald A. Butcher Memorial Scholarship Yari Butcher, Yasmein Butcher, and Serene Sarpong.
These scholars embody the spirit, resilience, and academic excellence that this scholarship was created to honor. As students who have faced the unimaginable loss of a parent, they continue to persevere and lead with grace and ambition. This fall, twins Yari and Yasmein head off to college together — Yari to American University and Yasmein to North Carolina A&T State University — while Serene brings that same determination to UCLA.
This award is more than a scholarship — it is a celebration of Emerald's legacy and a powerful reminder that our community will always stand behind those who rise in the face of adversity.
Join us in celebrating Yari, Yasmein, Serene, and all future scholars who carry the light forward.
#EmeraldsAreForever #ScholarshipRecipient #HonoringEmerald #InvestInTheFuture
Congratulations
,
---
OUR MISSION
Emeralds Are Forever is dedicated to honoring the legacy of Emerald A. Butcher by empowering scholars and creating opportunities that transform lives. We invest in students who have experienced the loss of a parent through scholarships, educational resources, mentorship, and community support, helping them pursue higher education with confidence and purpose.
Rooted in resilience, compassion, and hope, we believe every student deserves the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential. Through our work, we turn loss into legacy, open doors to opportunity, and ensure Emerald's spirit continues to inspire future generations.
How we're Celebrating
FESTIVITIES
Honoring Emerald. Celebrating Legacy.
On June 26th, 2027, we invite you to join us for an evening of joy, remembrance, and community as we celebrate the vibrant life of Emerald A. Butcher — a devoted mother, a loyal friend, a natural-born scholar, and a fierce believer in the power of education to change the trajectory of a life.
This isn't just a birthday celebration — it's a gathering of everyone whose life Emerald touched, coming together in Baltimore to laugh, to remember, and to carry her spirit forward. Expect good food, good music, and an atmosphere as warm and full of light as Emerald was.
This gathering also marks our annual fundraiser, where every toast and every ticket goes directly toward the Emerald A. Butcher Memorial Scholarship — ensuring that students who, like Emerald, refuse to be counted out have the resources to rise, achieve, and lead.
Come celebrate a life that continues to inspire. Come invest in the futures she made possible.
Emeralds Are Forever.
Ways to Support:
About Emeralds Are Forever Inc.
Emeralds Are Forever Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in loving memory of Emerald Butcher. Our mission is to provide scholarships for high-achieving youth who have experienced the loss of a parent, helping them continue their educational journey with strength and purpose.
Rooted in equity, resilience, and educational advancement, we are committed to supporting the next generation of leaders as they rise through unimaginable challenges.
All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Organization Details:
-
Official Name: Emeralds Are Forever Inc. | 5489 Bucknell Rd, Baltimore, MD 21206
-
Designation: 501(c)(3) Public Charity
-
Tax ID / EIN: 99-2218647
-
Date of Incorporation: February 12, 2024
-
State of Incorporation: Maryland
EMERALD
Emerald A. Butcher was a scholar before the world ever gave her the title of valedictorian of her elementary and middle school, and high school scholar, and a proud graduate of Baltimore City College (City Knights). But her brilliance never fit neatly into one lane. She was a published anime author who built worlds on the page, an avid debater who could hold her own in any room, a devoted Harry Potter enthusiast who believed in magic long after childhood asked her to stop, and a beloved Southwest Airlines flight attendant who carried her warmth across the sky, one flight at a time.
Yet of everything she built and became, nothing meant more to her than being a mother to Yasmein and Yari Butcher. They were not simply her pride and her joy; they were the truest expression of who she was, the legacy she was always going to leave, long before either of them understood it.
Today, that legacy is taking flight. Yari is heading to American University, and Yasmein to North Carolina A&T State University each of them walking a path their mother laid before them, carrying her academic excellence, her strength, and her integrity forward as the 2026 recipients of the Emerald A. Butcher Memorial Scholarship.
As a young single mother, the world was quick to count Emerald out. It underestimated her, as it so often does to young mothers who refuse to be small. But Emerald turned every doubt into fuel. She refused to let anyone else's limited imagination define the size of her future, and she poured that same defiant, unshakable perseverance into her children. That fire didn't leave when she did. It lives in them still, in every classroom, every milestone, every quiet act of resilience.
Even in her absence, Emerald has never truly been gone. Her values education, resilience, and joy continue to move through the lives of her children and everyone she touched along the way. Through the Emerald A. Butcher Memorial Scholarship, we don't just remember her; we extend her. We hand her light to the next student who refuses to be counted out, and the one after that, and the one after that.
She lives on through them. And through every scholar we have the privilege of supporting.
Emeralds Are Forever.
About
