Who Says Karma Isn’t a Real Thing?

When we ran our ‘Car For A Cure’ end of year raffle in December… we never imagined it would end up like this!

Steve Amedeo was our winner.  And the funny thing is, he had no idea what he was buying raffle tickets for.  Steve simply wanted to support our year-end campaign and became the winner of a 2-year lease of a  2018 Platinum Edition Nissan Murano donated by Modern Nissan of Lake Norman.   If you don’t know Steve, you should.  He is the Co-Founder of an amazing organization, All-In to Fight Cancer. This organization was created in honor of his friend Rob Eubanks who passed away from cancer.

Who says karma isn’t a real thing?

After he won, Steve started making some phone calls.  He didn’t need the car for himself, but wanted to figure out how the Charlotte cancer community could benefit from Modern Nissan of Lake Norman’s generosity.  We are thrilled that the donated 2-year lease has been gifted to ChemoCars who will use the The Isabella Santos Foundation ‘Car For A Cure’  to provide local cancer patients with free on-demand rides to and from chemotherapy.  TOGETHER, we are driven to support our local cancer community. For more info about the work ChemoCars is doing here in Charlotte, visit https://chemocars.org/

This is action.  Good people making things happen in our Queen City.

Founded in 2010, All-In to Fight Cancer is a grassroots, nonprofit group dedicated to increasing public awareness and raising money to find a cure for cancer, by hosting Texas Hold’em tournaments. To date, they have raised over $1,000,000 to support the fight against cancer. Each year, they choose benefitting organizations that are doing incredible things in the local cancer community. They are a grassroots organization that is committed to keeping their funding local and as high-impact as possible – every penny of our proceeds goes straight to our partners.

Each year, they choose benefitting organizations that are doing incredible things in the local cancer community. They are a grassroots organization that is committed to keeping their funding local and as high-impact as possible – every penny of their proceeds goes straight to their partners.  Last year, their tournament raised almost $300,000!

Learn more about Chemocars story, you will fall in love with them just like we did!

It Made Miracles Happen For Us

Written by Erin Santos, Isabella’s Mom

I remember that I hated when someone mentioned it to me.  We were about a week into our initial diagnosis and I was sitting in a playroom with my 2 year old attached to an IV pole.  “Have you asked for her wish yet?” a woman said to me.  If I had a weapon I would of hit her with it.  How dare she mention this to me one week in?  I didn’t know if my daughter was going to live or die and you are trying to tell me to call Make-A-Wish.  That organization is for dying kids, and she is not dying.

I could write a book on things you should not say to a parent in these situations.  This woman was obnoxious and out of line, but in the end she was right. Make-A-Wish was something we should look into, when we were ready.  When we were, we discovered that Make-A-Wish was not for dying children.  It was for children who had life-threatening diseases but not a death wish.  So we called, we asked Isabella what her wish would be, and they granted it.

For those of you who knew Isabella, you knew what this wish would be.  Of course it was to go to Disney World because she was all princess.  We had never been and we knew it would be hard to take her and Grant given her medical condition.  We had some stipulations of course because in all things, we knew what was best.  We asked to stay close to the park.  We had kids who napped and driving back and forth wasn’t an option.  She wanted to go Trick or Treating there so we got tickets to the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween.  She wanted to meet princesses oh and we forgot to mention, Grandma is joining us on our trip.

Well… little did we know this Disney trip would ruin Disney forever.  J  Limo rides, rooms on the concierge floor at the Grand Floridian, overlooking the castle and every single thing her heart desired.  Grant was not left out of the festivities either – he was just as special.  Each day at the park was filled with meet and greets where she went to the front of every line with her brother.  They dressed up as Minnie and Mickey for Halloween and fell asleep together in a stroller every night.

Isabella was born to give sound bites.  She would hug you so tightly as we watched the fireworks each night say, “this is the best day of my life”, or “dreams really do come true Mommy!”.  I mean really.  It was crazy to watch because days before she could barely move in the hospital due to the toxic chemo.  It was like this trip brought her back to life in a way.

Disney became the thing we knew we could dangle in front of her.  I can’t tell you how many times we would unhook her IV in New York City, fly through Charlotte and pick up Grant (and eventually Sophia) and be on our way to Disney.  I would get calls from her oncologist while we were watching the parade by Cinderella’s castle with instruction on how to take her to the nearest hospital to check her blood counts.  We would walk through the park, occasionally finding a trashcan where she would hack up her latest side effect before getting on the next ride.  The girl was an animal.  She loved Disney – and it brought her back from sickness time and time again.

We even decided to take her there just a couple of weeks before she passed away. Make-A-Wish has made this place the one place in the world that brought her the most happiness.  We saw the impact that a wish trip had on her mental and physical state, as well as the rest of us.  It made miracles happen for us – so many times.

Make-A-Wish didn’t just give her a Disney trip.  It gave her some of the BEST days of her life and some of the best memories of mine.  For this reason, I can’t think of a better gift than to honor another girl’s wish on what would have been Isabella’s 13th birthday.  If she were here today, I know it would be her wish to pass this experience on to another child.   So that is what we will do for her.

Let’s Become a WishMaker Together in Honor of Isabella

Make-A-Wish granted Isabella her wish and gave her the best days of her life.  Make-A-Wish also gave her family the best memories of theirs.  The positive impact wishes give to kids and their families are invaluable.  

There is a girl fighting cancer, Sydney, who is 13 years old and wishes to visit the Harry Potter museum in London. We can’t think of a better gift than to honor another girl’s wish on what would have been Isabella’s 13th birthday.

Please donate to help make Sydney’s wish come true.  Donations of all values will help us collectively reach the $6,000 fundraising goal by March 31.

DONATE HERE

*Donations made to this campaign are a gift to the mission of Make-A-Wish. Each contribution will be pooled with other gifts to grant the wish of the child shown above or of other eligible children. Costs shown are estimates. All wishes listed will be granted.

Let’s Become a WishMaker Together in Honor of Isabella

Make-A-Wish granted Isabella her wish and gave her the best days of her life.  Make-A-Wish also gave her family the best memories of theirs.  The positive impact wishes give to kids and their families are invaluable.  

There is a girl fighting cancer, Sydney, who is 13 years old and wishes to visit the Harry Potter museum in London. We can’t think of a better gift than to honor another girl’s wish on what would have been Isabella’s 13th birthday in the month of March.

Please donate to help make Sydney’s wish come true.  Donations of all values will help us collectively reach the $6,000 fundraising goal by March 31.

DONATE HERE

Throughout the month, we will be sharing more about Sydney and memories of Isabella’s wish.  We hope you will follow along on our social media pages:  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.  Isabella’s mom shares the difference Make-A-Wish made in not only Isabella, but the entire family.  

“We even decided to take her there just a couple of weeks before she passed away. Make-A-Wish has made this place the one place in the world that brought her the most happiness. We saw the impact that a wish trip had on her mental and physical state, as well as the rest of us. It made miracles happen for us – so many times.” -Isabella’s Mom

Read more from Erin Santos,  It Made Miracles Happen For Us  

Kicking Out Cancer

Sometimes we come across a young adult that stops us in our tracks. And reminds us of how incredibly amazing kids are. This time it was Matthew Pennington who stopped us and made our hearts smile.

Matthew Pennington took part in Leadership Martial Arts’ Kicking Out Cancer event yesterday. The event raised a total of $5,200 benefiting ISF! Matthew won for most money raised and was presented with a autographed Carolina Panthers football. Matthew immediately donated the football back to ISF for us to use in our auction to raise more money. Gestures like these always gets us, especially when they come from kids. We learned that when Matthew was 10 years old, he lost his father to cancer. He started going to Leadership Martial Arts as a positive outlet after loosing his father. We love that he turned his pain into passion.

This is giving back. This is making a difference.

Grace donated her birthday money, she didn’t want other kids getting as sick as Isabella. Jackson joined Isabella’s Dream Team at 11 years old as the youngest member to help fund raise. Griffin, Riley, and Noah redeemed 5 year’s worth of arcade tickets for a Yeti cooler just to donate it back to our annual auction. Juliana wears purple every September in honor of Isabella, helping her high school every single year with their annual ‘Purple Out’. Blake saved every penny of her summer earnings at 7 years old to help ISF. We could go on and on about the incredible kids we have come across. And they all have reminded us of Isabella… who used to donate her birthday presents to the pediatric oncology clinic. Kids amaze us.

Giving back is important on all levels. All ages. Thank you Matthew for your passion. We were honored to spend the day with you yesterday.

Jersey Mike’s 8th Annual Month of Giving

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The Isabella Santos Foundation is joining forces with 37 Jersey Mike’s Subs restaurants throughout the greater Charlotte area for the 8th Annual March “Month of Giving” campaign to raise funds for  pediatric cancer research. The campaign will culminate in Jersey Mike’s “Day of Giving” on Wednesday, March 28th, when these 37 local Jersey Mike’s restaurants will give 100 percent of the day’s sales – not just profit – to the Isabella Santos Foundation. For more information about Jersey Mike’s Sub Month of Giving, please visit:  www.jerseymikes.com/mog

In 2017, the greater Charlotte area Jersey Mike’s locations raised more than $100,000 for the campaign.

 

Every single dollar that comes in on March 28, goes to our Foundation.

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR
MARCH 28, 2018

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This year, we are going to take full advantage of this opportunity and are excited to have you join us for lunch or dinner at Jersey Mike’s all month long. During the month of March, all are invited to come into the local Charlotte Jersey Mike’s Restaurant and make a donation.

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100% of Sales will go to The Isabella Santos Foundation on March 28, 2018!

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.0.93″ /][/et_pb_column_inner][et_pb_column_inner type=”1_2″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.0.93″]<!– Button code –><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –><div title=”Add to Calendar” class=”addeventatc”><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –> Add to Calendar<!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –> <span class=”start”>03/28/2018 10:00 AM</span><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –> <span class=”end”>03/28/2018 9:00 PM</span><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –> <span class=”timezone”>America/New York</span><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –> <span class=”title”>Jersey Mike’s Subs Day of Giving</span><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –> <span class=”description”>Join the Isabella Santos Foundation for lunch or dinner on March 28th where 100% of all sales will go to our foundation.</span><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –> <span class=”location”>Charlotte, NC</span><!– [et_pb_line_break_holder] –></div>[/et_pb_code][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.0.93″ /][/et_pb_column_inner][/et_pb_row_inner][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.93″ custom_padding=”0px||10px|”][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.93″ background_layout=”light”]

Get Involved! Follow These 3 Easy Steps:

 

  1. Eat at a Charlotte Area Jersey Mike’s Subs anytime in March and buy a cookie! 100% of cookie sales go back to the foundation all month long!
  2. March 28th is the ‘Day of Giving’ where 100% of sales goes back to our foundation at participating stores in the Greater Charlotte area.  Click Add to Calendar above and invite your coworkers, family, friends and loved ones to lunch or dinner on on this day. Put it on your calendar now so you don’t forget and feel free to adjust the time as you see fit! And make sure to share this day with everyone!
  3. Work in a office?  Order for your team and eat lunch together!  Feel good knowing your team lunch went back to pediatric cancer.  This is a great opportunity have lunch together and talk about how your going to impact the community next.  Remember, it’s up to all of us to make a difference.   Don’t forget about online ordering!

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Find the closest Charlotte area location using the map below!

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ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28:
EAT A SUB, HELP A CHARITY

  • Participating Jersey Mike’s locations give 100% of ALL sales on the Day of Giving as part of the company’s annual Month of Giving campaign in March.
  • Last year the nationwide initiative raised more than $5.5 for local charities, and the greater Charlotte area participating locations raised more than $100,000 for the campaign.
  • An astounding 4.6 million of that amount was raised on the Day of Giving alone
  • Since 2010, Jersey Mike’s has raised more than $27 million for local charities and has distributed more than 1.5 million free sub sandwiches to help numerous causes.

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