The Be Loud! Sophie Foundation is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based in Chapel Hill,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, United States, which supports care for young adults with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

at UNC Hospitals. 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 satirical postmodern novel, with science fiction elements, by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut's fourth novel, it was first published on March 18, 1963, exploring and satirizing issues of science, technology, the p ...

, 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.

History

In 2012, 14-year-old Sophie Steiner, a freshman at

East Chapel Hill High School East Chapel Hill High School 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 School. The t ...

, was diagnosed with

metastatic Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading 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, ...

germ-cell cancer, 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 (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

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 Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

. 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 Re ...

'': 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 was an American rock music, 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 re ...

, with the Pressure Boys headlining, also featuring

The Connells The Connells are an American musical group from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a guitar-oriented, melodic, jangle-pop style of rock music with introspective lyrics that often reflect the history or culture of the American South. Though the ...

, the Dex Romweber Duo, and A Number of Things. In 2015, the concert had the Red Clay Ramblers,

Tift Merritt Catherine Tift Merritt (born January 8, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven studio albums, two for Lost Highway Records, two for Fantasy Records, and three for Yep Roc Records. Early life and education Me ...

, 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. The band released their debut EP ''Voodoo Beach Party'' in 1984, followed by their self-titled debut album the following ...

. At the 2016 event, performers included English Beat,

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 ...

' band Hobex,

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, were an English 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 and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

), 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, 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 i ...

biked 66 days across the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...

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 ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, 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 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 Morn ...

'' of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. 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 based in the United States Charities for young adults