The Be Loud! Sophie Foundation is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to: Places Antarctica * Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia *Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area Canada * Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, United States, which supports care for young adults with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

UNC Hospitals UNC Medical Center (UNCMC) is a 905-bed non-profit, nationally ranked, public, research and academic medical center located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, providing tertiary care for the Research Triangle, surrounding areas and North Carolina. The ...

. It was established by the family of Sophie Steiner, who died from cancer at the age of 15. Its major event is an annual concert at

Cat's Cradle Cat's cradle is a game involving the creation of various string figures between the fingers, either individually or by passing a loop of string back and forth between two or more players. The true origin of the name is debated, though the fi ...

, a music venue in the neighboring town of

Carrboro Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 census.East Chapel Hill High School East Chapel Hill High School ("East") is a public high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is the second high school of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district, which also contains Chapel Hill High School and Carrboro High Schoo ...

, was diagnosed with

metastatic Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

germ-cell cancer Germ cell tumor (GCT) is a neoplasm derived from germ cells. Germ-cell tumors can be cancerous or benign. Germ cells normally occur inside the gonads (ovary and testis). GCTs that originate outside the gonads may be birth defects resulting from er ...

, and died ten months later on August 30, 2013. Be Loud! targets an area which Steiner called the "no-man's land" between

pediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

and adult

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

. Her mother told ''

Indy Week ''Indy Week'', formerly known as the ''Independent Weekly'' and originally the ''North Carolina Independent'', is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and distributed throughout the Res ...

'': Her sisters Annabel and Elsa, and her parents, Lucy and Niklaus Steiner, created Be Loud! to support patients and families in similar conditions. Be Loud!'s mission is " support adolescent and young adult cancer patients and their families at UNC Hospitals". The foundation is named after a poem written by Sophie on her blog.

Fundraising activities

Concerts

Be Loud! has hosted concerts at the Cat's Cradle and Fearrington Village. The first Cat's Cradle concert, in 2014, reunited the band

Let's Active Let's Active is an American rock group formed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1981, and often identified with the jangle pop guitar work of the group's frontman and songwriter Mitch Easter. After disbanding in 1990, the group reformed in Augus ...

, with the Pressure Boys headlining, also featuring

The Connells ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, the

Dex Romweber Duo John Michael Dexter "Dex" Romweber (born June 18, 1966) is an American rockabilly/roots rock musician (primarily playing electric guitar) from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dex is best known as one-half of the seminal two-piece Flat Duo Jets. He f ...

, and A Number of Things. In 2015, the concert had the

Red Clay Ramblers The Red Clay Ramblers are a North Carolina-based band founded in Durham, North Carolina, performing continuously since their formation in 1972. The current touring band has been together since 1987, with Jack Herrick (trumpet, bass), Bland Simpson ...

Tift Merritt Tift may refer to: Places * Tift County, Georgia, a county in south-central Georgia, United States People with the given name * Tift Merritt (born 1975), American singer-songwriter People with the surname * Andrew Tift (born 1968), British portr ...

, Don Dixon. and

Southern Culture on the Skids Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Originally a straightforward roots rock band, they became known as a tongue-in-cheek "party band" with an exaggerated "white ...

. At the 2016 event, performers included

English Beat The Beat (known in the United States and Canada as the English Beat and in Australia as the British Beat) are a British band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock. The Beat, c ...

Greg Humphreys Greg Humphreys is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter based in New York City who performs solo and as bandleader of Dillon Fence, Hobex and The Greg Humphreys Electric Trio. Early life Greg was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North C ...

' band

Hobex Hobex is an American funk group from North Carolina. History Hobex was formed by singer/guitarist Greg Humphreys after the demise of his prior ensemble, Dillon Fence, alongside drummer Steve Hill (originally from Johnny Quest) and bassist Andy ...

Chris Stamey Christopher Charles Stamey (born December 6, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. After a brief time playing with Alex Chilton, as well as Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, Stamey formed The dB's with Peter ...

's jazz group Occasional Shivers, Preeesh!, and others. The 2017 concert featured Atlanta band Drivin' N' Cryin', Rob Ladd and The Spressials (covering

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terr ...

), and Triangle bands Hege V, the Backsliders, the Floating Children, and Boom Unit Brass Band. In 2018, musical acts included

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

, Surrender Human, the Sex Police, the Veldt,

Collapsis Collapsis was a band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, active primarily from 1997 to 2001. The band's name derives from a Dillon Fence song of the same name that Collapsis front man Mike Garrigan asked Dillon Fence fr ...

, and the Right Profile.

Other fundraising

Boy Scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted infa ...

biked 66 days across the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

raising money for the organization. The foundation has also participated at local events, such as the Color the Hill run and the Blue Ridge 200-mile relay. A cupcake truck in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, was created and sent all their profits to Be Loud!

Young-adult cancer care

The organization created a position at the

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. One of 52 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, its clini ...

for Lauren Lux, a clinical social worker, who works with cancer patients in their early-teens to mid-20s. For Be Loud!, Lux is the adolescent and young adults (AYA) program director. "Sometimes I describe my job by telling people, 'I'm here to make this suck a little less,'" Lux told ''

The Herald-Sun ''The Herald-Sun'' is an American, English language daily newspaper in Durham, North Carolina, published by the McClatchy Company. History ''The Herald-Sun'' began publication on January 1, 1991, as the result of a merger of ''The Durham Mor ...

'' of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. Lux's main role is coordinating schedules and offering activities for AYA patients at UNC. Be Loud! brings age-appropriate resources and services to patients to let them "be themselves". Lux has taken patients rock climbing at Pilot Mountain.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Be Loud Sophie Foundation 2014 establishments in North Carolina Organizations established in 2014 Charities based in North Carolina Children's charities based in the United States Cancer charities in the United States Medical and health foundations in the United States Charities for young adults