Cool Kids Clubhouse

Transcript:

Narrator
Welcome to The Best of LKN, a podcast featuring the best small businesses and the most influential professionals around Lake Norman, North Carolina. Each week, we spotlight those businesses and individuals that are making a positive impact here in the Lake Norman area. Thanks for joining us. Enjoy the show.

Jeff
Hey, everyone, welcome back to The Best of LKN podcast. This is Lake Norman’s number one small business podcast, where we work each and every day to elevate the Lake Norman small business community and introduce you to the best and brightest small business owners, entrepreneurs, freelancers, and leaders of local nonprofit organizations. I want to first give a shout out to our sponsors who make the work we do here at The Best of LKN possible. I encourage you to get to know these exceptional local small businesses by going to our homepage at thebestoflkn.com. There you’ll find a list of all of our platform sponsors with links to follow to learn more about their businesses. We’ll also have links to our sponsors in the show notes for this episode. While you’re on our homepage at thebestoflkn.com, please consider signing up for our weekly email newsletter. You can find the form on our homepage, simply enter your first name and email address and you’re all set. We’ll send you links to our most recent podcast episodes, written articles on our website, and YouTube videos every Friday direct to your inbox. We’re also including information about some of our favorite upcoming events each week. The newsletter is free and signing up is an excellent way to show some support for The Best of LKN. And don’t worry, we’ll never spam your inbox, and we’ll never share your email address with anyone else. We’re still producing videos for our YouTube channel featuring our favorite local Lake Norman small businesses, places to go, and things to do. Head over to The Best of LKN on YouTube when you get a minute and hit that subscribe button.
Okay, in this episode, I’m featuring another great local nonprofit that’s working hard at supporting families that are fighting childhood cancer. Melissa Scott is the managing director at Cool Kids Clubhouse in Huntersville. And she joins us to share the story behind Cool Kids Clubhouse. Their mission is devoted to improving the quality of life for pediatric oncology patients, survivors, and their families by focusing on the academic, social, and emotional needs brought on by a cancer diagnosis. Also joining us is Liz Mills. Liz helped me connect with Melissa and Cool Kids Clubhouse and she has been working in support of Cool Kids Clubhouse for several years now. Liz also shares the story of how she was inspired to go to work supporting families coping with a childhood cancer diagnosis. Please stay with us until the end of the episode when Liz and Melissa share ways that local businesses can get involved and help Cool Kids Clubhouse achieve a big goal that they have planned for 2024. For now, lean in my friends, and get to know the story of Cool Kids Clubhouse with Melissa Scott and Liz Mills.

Jeff
Joining me is the managing director for the Cool Kids Clubhouse, North Carolina chapter, Melissa Scott. Melissa, welcome to the podcast.

Melissa
Welcome. Thank you for having me.

Jeff
Thank you. Great to have you here. And Liz Mills who connected me with Melissa and is joining us as well. Liz, welcome.

Liz
Hi.

Jeff
Great to see you.

Liz
It’s great to be here.

Jeff
Liz and I connected recently during our second anniversary happy hour for The Best of LKN. So that was a lot of fun. It was great meeting you in person. And I’m glad that we got to follow up and feature Cool Kids Clubhouse, North Carolina on the podcast. So, before we start talking about Cool Kids Clubhouse and all the amazing work that you and the team are doing there, Melissa, share for the listeners a little bit of your bio, a little background on you. Where you’re from, careers, and what led you to Cool Kids Clubhouse.

Melissa
Sure. Well, I’m from originally New Jersey. I moved to North Carolina about 15 years ago. I have a two-decade long career in nonprofit, working with volunteers and underserved youth. Since I’ve been in North Carolina, I’ve worked with children in foster care, with hospice, the Ada Jenkins Center, and most recently with the Cool Kids Clubhouse. We opened in January 2020. And that’s when I joined the clubhouse.

Jeff
So, how did you connect? How did you hear about Cool Kids Clubhouse and how did you connect with them?

Melissa
Well, I saw that they were opening this clubhouse. The president and founder is originally from Baltimore, and I saw the work that they were doing with Dan Jansen, one of the board members down here. And I just continued to research and saw kind of their mission to serve pediatric oncology patients here. And I just thought I could really do some amazing stuff with that organization. I knew the small business network around here, I knew the area, the Lake Norman region, and I just felt like I could really make a difference if I joined. And so, I applied and really had a heart for their mission, and the kids, and the families. So, that’s kind of what compelled me to apply and join.

Jeff
I love that. Pediatric cancer awareness has a special place in our hearts, too. We’ll talk about that in a little bit. And Liz, I know it does for you as well. Before we share that story, tell the listeners a little bit about you, a little of your background.

Liz
Well, I’m originally from Maryland. And that’s where I did my undergrad and graduate work. And I met my husband there as well. And we lived in Cincinnati for 10 years. And we have been here in the Charlotte area for six. And I guess my dad really instilled in me growing up, a lifelong love of helping others. His motto was, helping others is the most important job on the planet. And so, you know, you have your career, you have your family, you have your friends, but what are you doing for others? And that was kind of always a question that he asked me. And so, I always was involved with doing something. Most of it was leukemia, lymphoma society, and then an orphanage up in Cincinnati. But when we moved here, and my daughter passed away suddenly from cancer, I really was not only looking to help other kids like her, but to also, I don’t know, kind of help myself. I knew helping others would help me heal. And so, that is when I started throwing myself into helping nonprofits more intensely, I guess. I started joining boards and event committees and actually, like infiltrating those nonprofits and helping in a better way, I guess.

Jeff
Yeah. Dad sounds like a wise man.

Liz
Thank you. He was one of the wisest. He passed away in 2006. I miss him terribly, but he was amazing.

Jeff
Tell us about your daughter.

Liz
Okay, so Easton was a vivacious, mischievous, smart little two-year-old. And she was perfectly healthy, right up until the day that she passed away. She actually passed away seven months after we moved to this area. And she was only sick for 24 hours. We actually did not know what was wrong until she had actually passed away. And they discovered the largest tumor that they had ever, that Levine Children’s Hospital had ever seen in a two-year-old. And it is a very rare tumor called ATRT. Very similar to DIPG. I feel like DIPG is a little more well known, maybe, I don’t know. But if you are diagnosed under three, you don’t survive it. And luckily, she just fell asleep. But we were just devastated. But in that moment, my husband tells me this all the time, like I turned to him, and I told him, I was like, we have to help other people, or I’m not going to make it through this. And so, that’s when, and I always feel like it was Easton’s spirit, not really anything that had to do with me. But in that, like, actual moment when she was leaving us, I feel like she left us with this purpose. And I’ve just been trying to fulfill that purpose ever since.

Jeff
That’s beautifully said.

Liz
Thanks.

Jeff
Yeah. How long ago?

Liz
Five years. Five years and a couple months now.

Jeff
And you then began your own personal mission, your family mission now is to connect with and support these organizations that raise awareness and help families going through similar situations?

Liz
Yes. And Cool Kids Clubhouse would have been an amazing resource for us if Easton had been able to fight her cancer. There’s so many kids out there that are fighting and battling and we just don’t even realize it. And there aren’t resources. Parents need support. Kids need support. Their siblings need support. And that’s where Cool Kids really comes in.

Jeff
Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. And we didn’t talk about that before I hit record, and I wasn’t sure if you were okay talking about it, but I appreciate you talking about it.

Liz
Oh yes, I talk about it so much now, it’s kind of second nature. Of course, you know, sometimes I will get upset and sometimes I’m fine. But yeah.

Jeff
Yeah, you mentioned you were really surprised and didn’t realize how many families are battling cancer with their kids and are going through these situations. And it’s something we didn’t know either. And eleven years ago, my oldest stepson, Justin, was diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager, and we spent nearly a year at Levine Children’s Hospital on the 11th floor with that amazing team. Just amazing place and he did survive. He’s been cancer-free for 10 years now, but we saw how many families were dealing with it and that we had no idea. So, anyway, you did so well, I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. But thank you for sharing that.

Liz
Thank you for sharing that. It’s the survivors that continue to give me hope. And to push us, you know, to keep moving towards our purpose.

Jeff
Yeah, and another reason why I was really looking forward to featuring Cool Kids Clubhouse on the podcast, and sharing the Cool Kids Clubhouse story, and your mission. Melissa, tell us about the Cool Kids Clubhouse organization, specifically, the North Carolina chapter.

Melissa
Yeah, well, we do have two club houses. One in Baltimore, Maryland, and one here. What we do is work to improve the quality of life for pediatric oncology patients, their families, their siblings, survivors, as well as the siblings of angels who have passed. So, we are there, we provide that continuity of care that many agencies can’t do. So, a lot of children are bullied in school because they’re diagnosed with cancer, they may look different, they may behave a little bit differently. Sometimes they have academic challenges, or emotional delays, learning delays, things like that. They’re out of school for a really long time. So, we provide everything for free for the families. From tutoring to family vacations, we send families on free vacations. We have the clubhouse where they come from movie nights, birthday parties, family festivals, we do a myriad of things for these families. We kind of let them show us what they need. And if it’s within our mission, we can do that for them. So, we’ll send smile boxes to the hospital or to the house if the children can’t come out. Just something to make them smile to improve their quality of life while they’re struggling, while they’re battling. Just pick them up.

Jeff
Yeah.

Liz
The thing that I love about Cool Kids is that they also welcome all the siblings. Because we have a son, obviously, and he just would have so loved that, you know, and I just love that about you guys.

Melissa
Thank you.

Liz
Siblings are welcome.

Melissa
A lot of the siblings do sacrifice a lot. Many of them are unable to go to school while their brother or sister is battling cancer. As we’ve all learned the past couple of years, you know, masks, things like that. That’s not new to these families. They’ve been dealing with that, I’m sure you’re familiar. And, you know, so in order to protect the patient child, they’ve had to sacrifice, you know, mom and dad have been busy. In and out of the hospital, there’s no time for extracurriculars. So, they’ve had to sacrifice so much. So, we make sure to honor the siblings just as much as we honor the patient child as well. So, everybody’s a Cool Kid. When we have events, we always invite the whole family. Everybody just kind of runs around. Hey, cool kid, hey, cool kid. It’s really fun to see.

Jeff
I do love that you involve the siblings as well and include them in all of the activities and events and they get to share in the experience. I love that. What are some other ways, some activities that Cool Kids Clubhouse can provide for these kids?

Melissa
Yeah, so just a couple of weeks ago, we had somebody share with us recently, that there was a group of private pilots that wanted to give an experience to some kids. So, we worked with them, and we took our kids flying. We went out to Gastonia airport, and all of our kids, their families, the siblings, were able to experience a private flight around Charlotte, which was super cool. Some went on a helicopter. Some just went in the private flight. You know, not many of us get to experience that and that was just really incredible. Again, we talked about the free vacations. One of our kids wanted to work in aviation, so one of our mentors helped him find a job. So again, anything we can do to kind of improve their quality of life, if we don’t do it, we’ll find somebody who does. We can partner them up with another organization. We try to partner with all the other nonprofits and local businesses that are out there. If they want cooking lessons or something like that we’ll work with a small business or a restaurant. Birthday parties are definitely one. We had a 16-year-old who hadn’t had a birthday in seven years, I believe it was, just because the family was so tied up with treatments and doctor’s appointments and therapies and things. And they hadn’t been able to honor and celebrate their son in so long. But we had a birthday party, and it was so awesome. We had three birthday cakes for him, which was really fun. And just the smile on his face. That we were able to do that for him. Yeah.

Jeff
I loved the pilot story. I’m an aviation fanatic, just a total nerd when it comes to airplanes. And that’s really cool. Was this a group of pilots that belong to an organization or a club?

Melissa
Yeah, it’s called EAA. And so, they work with underprivileged children to help them fly and teach them and they included our Cool Kids in their programming. And they did this special day for them. So, all the cadets, were out there helping, everybody was volunteering. We did a festival. It was really neat.

Jeff
I’m familiar with the EAA. Yeah, that’s really cool. I love that. You mentioned partnering with businesses, and how can, we want to give some shout outs to some businesses in a little bit, but before we do that, how can small businesses reach out and partner with Cool Kids Clubhouse? And in what capacities could you use support from local small businesses?

Melissa
I mean, there’s always, I’m always willing to be creative. So, we can take donations, of course, monetary, or in-kind donations. You can donate a lunch for our summer program coming up. You can come and volunteer with your team. If you have an afternoon where that might be a downtime for you. We can certainly use volunteers. You can host a toy drive in your business. We get a lot of toys around Christmas time, but Christmas in July is a thing for a reason. Because there’s a lot of times when that’s a big need, so doing a toy drive. Then a gift card drive, you mentioned your stepson was a teen. Teens often get forgotten. A lot of the toys that we get are toys for little ones. But we have so many teens, we have a teen program, we do teen nights for our kids battling cancer. So, doing a gift card drive or a drive for teens, things that are more appropriate. If you’re a bowling alley host, a night at the bowling alley, you know, something like that.

Jeff
Yeah. You mentioned that often teens can be not top of mind when it comes to pediatric cancer awareness. And so, I appreciate you mentioning that as well. I do want to give a shout out to some of the businesses, some of the corporate partners, that support the North Carolina Cool Kids Clubhouse. And one of them that comes to mind very quickly is Lake Norman Chrysler Dodge Jeep and RAM. Robin Salzman was a guest on the podcast, the owner. She is so, gosh, she’s just so prolific in her support of local nonprofits, especially when it comes to pediatric cancer awareness and support and organizations, so that’s really cool. The JEM Project is a new name for me. I’m not familiar. Will certainly look them up. Metrolina Greenhouses, amazing company that just continues to expand. Novant Health and Diamonds Direct. Do you have some other businesses you’d like to give shout outs to?

Melissa
Yeah, well, I will echo you and all of those businesses have really stepped up in supporting us. As a new to the area nonprofit, I know all of the owners, and the president of Novant Hospital, and Robin and Jack, and Vickie from Metrolina. They’ve just been so supportive of our work. Coming out to our events with the kids and just providing us grants Leah from the JEM Project, they funded our Myrtle Beach program this summer. We really couldn’t do our work without them. In terms of some small businesses, again, we truly couldn’t do our work without everybody that’s involved. Whit’s Frozen Custard of Davidson and Huntersville. Annsley, who’s the owner, is on our advisory board, and she’s been so impactful in her work with us. Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop, who doesn’t love pie and custard right? But they have given us so many in kind donations, they’ve hosted give back days for us. Hirschfeld Marketing is another big supporter of ours. They’ve hosted several toy drives for us for our kids. They put together smile boxes, ready to go themed boxes for our kids to send out. And another one, just one more I’ll mention, but there’s so many, is D9 Brewing Company. They’re also extremely supportive of us. They’ve hosted several of our events. They’ve done round up days. We’re hoping to have a chili cook off there in the fall. So yeah, lots and lots of small businesses.

Jeff
Doesn’t surprise me that a craft brewery was included in that bunch. Craft breweries have been just so wonderful when it comes to charity activations and so forth. Whit’s Frozen Custard, one of Davidson’s favorite places and Huntersville, of course, as you mentioned. Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop. Gabby, the co-owner, was on the podcast. We had her on, she was wonderful. We loved featuring that business and yeah, we love that business. We shop there quite a bit as a matter of fact. And Todd Hirschfeld, the CEO at Hirschfeld Marketing Solutions was also a guest on the podcast, amazing company that he’s developed and built. And I’m so glad to hear that they’re a supporter of yours as well.

Melissa
Absolutely. Yeah.

Jeff
Very cool. Melissa, share some of the upcoming events that Cool Kids Clubhouse is hosting this summer and ongoing in 2022.

Melissa
Absolutely. So, we have our Cool Kids Summer Program that’s coming up, that’s going to be every Thursday and Friday in July. That will be at the clubhouse for our cool kids. And we always need volunteers and lunch sponsors for that. And of course, if you know a child that needs this program, you just let us now. And then we have our 5k that is coming up on July 30th. It’s going to be hosted by Elevation Church, another huge supporter of ours. And all of the proceeds from that 5k are going to benefit our clubhouse. And then in September it’s childhood cancer awareness month, and Liz will tell you about that.

Liz
Yes, so September is childhood cancer awareness month and local businesses can support that endeavor by just going gold for September. Decorating your space in all gold, putting up signs, and supporting Cool Kids Clubhouse.

Jeff
Yeah, absolutely. Hashtag go gold. Yeah, yeah, I love that. We go gold in our businesses and that our house every September, so yeah, I love that you brought that up. And would definitely encourage businesses to give that a little more consideration this year. I feel like there are a lot of other initiatives that get a lot more attention that are maybe more stylish. I don’t know, but we want to go gold in September. So, we’re going to be really reminding people to do that this year.

Liz
I’m also going to sign up for the 5k.

Jeff
I am too.

Liz
Are you going to sign up too, Jeff?

Jeff
Yeah, I am. I think I can actually get in shape in time for that 5k. I’ve been kind of working on it for the last couple of months. So, I think I can handle a 5k at the end of July. I really need to sign up for a 10k but I’m gonna put that off for a little while.

Melissa
Well, this can be the practice to get you there. And the good thing about this 5k is that it’s family friendly. So, we’re going to have a lot of our Cool Kids there. We’re gonna have families there. So, you can run, you can walk, you can push a stroller, you can hang out at the end with our Cool Kids, whatever works.

Jeff
Where is the, it’s sponsored by, partially at least, sponsored by Elevation Church. Is it going to be in Cornelius?

Melissa
It’s going to be in Cornelius. So, it’s going to start out at Elevation Church and it’s going to run on the Greenway behind Birkdale Village.

Liz
Perfect.

Jeff
Yeah, that’s a great place to run. Great place for a 5k.

Melissa
And really quickly, so in terms of going gold in September, the reason we go gold is because children are precious as gold.

Jeff
Thank you for adding that. A good reminder.

Liz
Absolutely.

Jeff
Melissa, one more thing before we start to close this conversation, Cool Kids Clubhouse has a big goal in mind. Share a little bit about that.

Melissa
Yeah, so Liz and I are going to be working on a big capital initiative to purchase a space for our clubhouse. Right now, we’re renting our space and we would like to own a space, an accessible space for our kids, with an outdoor shaded area. So, our goal is to have that completed by the fall of 2024, so that we can serve more families, more children, as many children that need us.

Liz
And not only the children, but because being a cancer parent is just so busy. You’re working, you’re caring for your child, and it can be crazy. So, this space will be amazing for the kids, but it will also provide a space for the parents to relax, work if they need it, and just decompress. Sometimes they just need a break. We all do. Right? So, I love that about this.

Jeff
Well, I’m really excited for, you have a lot of work, obviously, to do to raise the funds to purchase this place. Local businesses that are listening to this episode really need to give this consideration. Reach out to Cool Kids Clubhouse North Carolina and connect and help out. And you obviously also always have need for volunteers too, wouldn’t you?

Melissa
We do, we definitely do. Summer programs, our festivals, you mentioned Lake Norman Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM, in October we’re gonna have a fall festival there. Come out, run a craft booth, run the dunking booth if you want, whatever. You know, you can advertise your business and play with the kids and hang out.

Jeff
I love it. Yeah, very cool. So, if you can’t give money, give time and vice versa. So, I love it. Speaking of which, how can listeners connect with Cool Kids Clubhouse? What are the best ways to get started?

Melissa
Yeah, so several different ways. One, stop by anytime. We’re located in the Huntington Learning Center building in Huntersville. We’d love for you to pop in anytime. You can go to our website. It’s coolkidscampaign.org. That’s coolkidscampaign.org. Or we’re on Instagram and Facebook @CoolKidsClubhouseNC.

Jeff
I’ll have the links in the show notes for sure. The show notes with all the clickable links are always on thebestoflkn.com. So, we’ll have a page for this episode, I’ll have the links in there as well as the address for the location. So, definitely, especially now that we’re, you know, knock on wood coming out of COVID situation. The best place to connect with all of our local businesses and nonprofits is to pay them a visit. So, definitely encourage listeners to do that. This is a topic that is just so near and dear to our hearts. And it’s such an honor to meet you in person and to be able to feature Cool Kids Clubhouse North Carolina, on The Best of LKN podcast. This has been wonderful. And I just want to say thank you so much. Managing director, Cool Kids Clubhouse North Carolina, Melissa Scott. Melissa, thank you.

Melissa
Thank you so much for having us and for hearing our story.

Jeff
Absolutely. And Liz Mills. Liz, thank you so much for joining the podcast and sharing your story.

Liz
Thank you. It’s been great to be here.

Jeff
Big thanks to Melissa Scott and Liz Mills for joining the podcast and sharing the story of Cool Kids Clubhouse. Friends, you can learn more about Cool Kids Clubhouse at www.coolkidscampaign.org. I’ll have that link in the show notes along with the links to some of the local small businesses we mentioned during our conversation. As always, you can find the complete show notes for this episode and all of our episodes at the home for Lake Norman’s number one small business podcast, www.thebestoflkn.com. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter, we’ll send links to our latest podcast episodes, YouTube videos, and written articles on our website every Friday direct to your inbox. Signing up is easy and you can find the form on our homepage at thebestoflkn.com. And it’s a really great way to show some support for the work we’re doing here at The Best of LKN. If you’re looking for some amazing local small businesses to shop or to work with, I recommend you begin by having a look at our sponsors. These local small businesses have been so supportive of the Lake Norman small business community and our efforts here at the podcast and they are worthy of your support in return. Links to our sponsors can be found on our homepage at thebestoflkn.com or in the show notes for this episode. Friends, that’s going to do it for now. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Cool Kids Clubhouse with Melissa Scott and Liz Mills, and I encourage you to reach out to them soon for volunteer opportunities or consider making a donation. We’ll be back next week with another episode, same time, same place. So, until then, cheers Lake Norman. Bye for now.

Narrator
We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of The Best of LKN. For more information about this podcast, show notes, video episodes, and links to our featured businesses, please visit www.thebestoflkn.com. We publish episodes weekly, so be sure to subscribe and stay up to date. Until next time, cheers Lake Norman.