#FeelGoodFriday – NoDa Brewery Releases a New Beer to Honor and Support Healthcare Workers in the Carolinas

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Our city is full of the best people and best businesses.  Every day we learn of something spectacular that our volunteers, supporters, sponsors, and partners are doing during this crazy time and it brightens our hearts and gives us hope.  We plan to spotlight these stories through #FeelGoodFriday. Every Friday, we will spotlight something spectacular around us. We hope it will brighten your day too! 

Today’s #FeelGoodFriday shout out is to NoDa Brewing Company who has released a beer to honor and support healthcare workers in the Carolinas. Make sure you head over to the #NoDaBrewThru to pick up your taste, open daily from 12pm-7:30pm.

NoDa Brewing Company has brewed up something special.  Zuper Heros, brewed out of love and released this week, honors and supports healthcare workers.  NoDa is donating 10% of all sales for Zuper Heroes to “22 And You”, a fundraising effort created by Christian McCaffrey to support front-line medical workers including physicians, nurses and other hospital staff battling the COVID-19 pandemic in hospitals throughout the Carolinas.

Zuper Heroes is a classic Czech Pilsner with earthy, herbal Saaz hops, that is thrust to even greater taste heights with American-grown Zuper Saazer hops. It is a perfect brew to celebrate the first responder Zuper Heroes in our community that are thrust into extraordinary action every day. 

NoDa Brewing has been heavily involved in the community since their existence.  We are extremely thankful to have them as a Sustaining Sponsor and appreciate their countless efforts in supporting ISF.  

Now more than ever we are so proud to be part of the Charlotte community.  It’s incredible to watch our local businesses tackle new challenges with creative initiatives to not only support themselves, but also their local community and healthcare workers.  Head over to the #NoDaBrewThru and let’s support them, open daily from 12pm-7:30pm. 🍻🚙

#FeelGoodFriday – JE Dunn Gives Back in Charlotte Amid COVID-19

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Our city is full of the best people and best businesses.  Every day we learn of something spectacular that our volunteers, supporters, sponsors and partners are doing during this crazy time and it brightens our hearts and gives us hope.  We plan to spotlight these stories through #FeelGoodFriday. Every Friday, we will spotlight something spectacular around us. We hope it will brighten your day too! 

Devon, 15 years old

Today’s #FeelGoodFriday shout out is to the local Charlotte JE Dunn Construction team who helped Leo’s Pride Foundation donate a van to a family in need.

Every year local contractors in the Charlotte area participate in a ping pong tournament.  Our Sustaining Sponsor, JE Dunn, won last year’s tournament and with that winning accolade came the chance to choose their non profit of choice to be the benefactor of the 2020 tournament.  JE Dunn chose Leo’s Pride Foundation, who helps families that have children with rare genetic disorders.

The JE Dunn team had planned on using the funds raised through the ping pong tournament to help a Leo’s Pride family get a van for 15-year-old Devon to get around easier. Devon has a rare disorder that binds him to a wheelchair and his mom has to carry him in and out of their vehicle regularly, making everyday activities and movement challenging.  As with most activities, the ping pong tournament has been postponed due to COVID-19, but the JE Dunn team recognized Devon’s needs still exist, even though most everything else stopped. How did they step up to the challenge? … they made the van donation happen last week anyway!

Devon, his family & their new van

Now that Devon and his family have this new van, they will be able to do all of the activities they love with more ease.

We have felt a connection to JE Dunn since they built the ISF MIBG room at Levine Children’s.  We got to know their team through the design/build process and were touched by their desire to know about Isabella and other kids fighting cancer.  JE Dunn believes every child deserves a future filled with moments of opportunity. They believe they should be provided a good education and any resources they need to live a healthy and happy lifestyle.  We are fortunate our teams crossed paths and they believe in our mission as well! Last year, JE Dunn donated $15,000 to ISF as part of their Annual Poker Tournament. And this year, we are so proud they are a Sustaining Sponsor supporting ISF all year long! This team has heart and passion and we love how they continue to raise others up in our community.

Thank you JE Dunn team for doing spectacular things in our Charlotte community!

Isabella Santos Foundation donates $6,000 to Make-A-Wish Foundation

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Together we were able to raise $6,000 to be gifted to Make-A-Wish Central and Western North Carolina to go towards a child’s wish.

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Levine Children’s Certified as a COG MIBG Treatment Center Hospital

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A little update..well, actually really big news for all our supporters who helped us make the MIBG Therapy suite a reality here in Charlotte.

In 2017 so many of you helped us raise $1,000,000 to fund the Isabella Santos Foundation MIBG Therapy Suite at Levine Children’s.  In 2018 that therapy suite was constructed and Levine Children’s treated it’s first MIBG patient by the end of the year. Since then there has been a rotation of children fighting neuroblastoma, treated in the specialized therapy room.  

Just this week Levine Children’s met another exciting milestone… they have been approved as an official treating facility for MIBG therapy through the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).  This was a long time in the making and we are so proud of the LCH staff for all they have accomplished to help make this a reality.

Simply put, this advanced treatment is now more accessible to kids fighting neuroblastoma.

So what does this mean?  

  • 90% of children diagnosed with cancer in the United States are treated by a COG hospital. There are over 200 certified COG Hospitals across the U.S. and  Levine Children’s is one of them
  • Being part of this network means that every child and care team have complete access to the latest research and world-class treatments at hospitals near them.  
  • Levine Children’s has been working through the necessary steps for COG MIBG approval for the past 18 months
  • Levine Children’s is now a certified COG MIBG treating center hospital
  • Levine Children’s is now approved to administer MIBG Therapy to kids fighting neuroblastoma who are entered on the MIBG protocol through the U.S.
  • Levine Children’s is currently the 18th hospital (1 of 3 on the east coast) approved to administer MIBG Therapy in the U.S.
  • Neuroblastoma patients in Charlotte who are put on MIBG will NOT have to travel 
  • Neuroblastoma patients from all over U.S. can now be treated at Levine Children’s for MIBG

MIBG therapy provides targeted radiation to pediatric neuroblastoma patients with minimal side effects. We are thrilled this therapy will now impact kids fighting neuroblastoma beyond the Charlotte region and equally thrilled that this helps Levine Children’s continue their impact on a larger scale.  Thank you to all of you who continue to believe in our mission. We are extremely grateful for your support.

Learn more about MIBG Therapy