This October, Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) Young Ambassadors were invited to a celebration at Levine Children’s Hospital in honor of their voluntary fundraising efforts to support CHS. The Young Ambassadors Program was created to recognize local youth who are making a significant impact on healthcare in their community through fundraising efforts that benefit CHS facilities and/or charitable funds.

The Ambassadors are led by Team Captain, Mike Rucker, former Carolina Panthers stand-out and long-time advocate for Levine Children’s Hospital. During the celebration, Mr. Rucker remarked that there is no stronger force than this group of young fundraisers who have done and are doing so much for local patients, “just because it’s the right thing to do to help others.” He noted how inspiring these young community members are to their peers, whether they are in kindergarten or college, from different backgrounds and personal experiences, for making such a significant impact for the benefit of adults and children in the Charlotte area.

Mr. Rucker also emphasized that these dedicated youth have raised funds for healthcare needs as diverse as cancer awareness, Levine Children’s Hospital patient programs and research, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, Muscular Dystrophy, and various areas of need across CHS by:

  • Donating birthday or Christmas money
  • Hosting or participating in sporting events
  • Soliciting classmates and neighbors for donations
  • Designing and selling jewelry
  • Collecting soda can tabs
  • Running successful lemonade stands, cupcake sales, and yard sales

 

The newest members to become Young Ambassadors were recognized individually, and then joined by the current and long-time Ambassadors, to be honored for their very special philanthropic efforts this year, including:

 

  • MOON CHEONG – Raised $1,730 for Levine Children’s Hospital at her 3rd Annual Cupcake sale.
  • Brothers CHARLIE, COOPER, and ZACH KAHN – Raised OVER $2400 for Levine Children’s Hospital and the Adaptive Sports and Adventures Program at the 4th Annual Levine Jewish Community Center’s Kids Triathlon.
  • ELYSSA KIM – Raised $1,000 for Levine Cancer Institute’s Paula Takacs Fund for Sarcoma Research, by designing and selling her handmade jewelry.
  • MINDY DAWSON & CAROLINE ROBERTSON – Raised over $160 for Levine Children’s Hospital by forming “CM Charity Girls” and went door to door in their neighborhood collecting donations.
  • CHASE MAHRLIG – Raised over $15,000 to benefit Levine Cancer Institute by creating the first-ever Cancer Chase 5k held just over the border in Fort Mill, South Carolina. In 2014, Chase (then 17 years-old) was diagnosed with cancer. Today, with the help of physicians at Levine Cancer Institute, he is cancer-free and giving back to support other patients facing cancer.
  • MATTHEW SALVINO – Matthew spearheaded a highly successful fundraiser initiative—Cougars 4 A Cure—with the help of 5MPOWER, a local nonprofit group. Students, athletes, coaches, and faculty from Charlotte Catholic High School participated in the fundraising event, collectively contributing an impressive $25,000 to benefit the Carolinas Bladder Cancer Fund at Levine Cancer Institute.
  • KHADIJAH SHAIKH – Raised $500 to give back to Levine Children’s Hospital over the course of a weekend by creating and running a bake sale through her Muslim Temple.
  • THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY OF CHRIST THE KING CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL – Students at Christ the King Catholic High School raised more than $1,000 to benefit research at Levine Cancer Institute to manage early stages of pancreatic cancer.