We have been all over your TV and newspaper! If you missed us, please catch up with the links below.

Thank you to the media for covering this heartwarming story about Zander, a 5 yr old leukemia patient, and his family as they let us into their home for a very exciting renovation! Building Hope for Kids is a home renovation project created by the Flyers Wives. We have been lucky enough to partner with the Philadelphia Flyers and Flyers Wives for the past four years!
 

Philly.com: Cause & Celebration: Building Hope for Kids Flyers Block Party

Northeast Times: Labor of Love

NHL.com: Jakub Voráček video

Scott Crutchfield invites you to join him Thursday, April 16, 2015 at Myers Park Country Club For a reception to introduce Michael’s Way to the Charlotte community.
 
When: Thursday, April 16th
Time: 5:30-7:00pm
Where: Myers Park Country Club
2415 Roswell Ave
Charlotte, NC 28209
704-376-0741
 
RSVP by April 13th:
Trish Fulvio, pafulvio@aol.com, 484-433-7767

Michael’s Way and Flyers Wives have come together to create Building Hope for Kids. We are in our 4th year!  Each year,  we partner together to work with social workers at various children’s hospitals to help identify a chronically ill child with Cancer from a family in Philadelphia that needs to make renovations to their home. This year we have chosen four-year old Zander from North East Philadelphia, who has Leukemia. With lots of help, we renovate the child’s bedroom and even other rooms of the house as we see fit. Improving the home means improving the quality of life for the patient.

Please stay tuned for photo and video updates of the progress on the house.

How do you thank someone? Nothing matters more then our little boy’s recovery from cancer, yet our children need a roof over their heads, food, heat in the winter, a working vehicle to drive our son for his treatments, to get to the grocery store…

Before Wyatt was diagnosed, the world we were raising our children in seemed rather bleak, selfishness the norm, anger, heartache, crime increasing – not the dream every parent historically has for their children’s future. But we were wrong. Amidst the heartache and terror of having a child being treated for cancer these past five years, has come the realization that we are indeed, never alone in this world, that there are so many people who truly care! Some are families who have walked in our shoes and know all too well the road we travel. Many have not and yet reach out in the name of a child, often they have never even met!

How do you thank someone? Do you tell about the tears that trickle upon your face when you think about THEIR sacrifice for your child and family? Do you describe the conversations you have with your children, when you get to say “see, no matter how difficult things may get, God will always help us, and see how He does it through the hands of such kind people” ? Do you simply say that a burden lifted from an already heavy heart, lightens the load enough to allow much needed smiles and laughter in between the pain? Do you let them know you pray for them with your children?

How do you thank someone? I know I don’t know anything that could ever fully express how we feel. I guess, you just say the words. From the deepest recesses of our hearts, THANK YOU! And God bless you.

With much love,

The Vernborg Family

Dear Chris,

It has been so long, I love your Christmas card. I have had so many annual doctors appointments. During the summer around June my hip started to hurt and I had to have bilateral hip replacement surgery. Everything went well though therapy was tough but I am up and walking.

Exciting News for Michael’s Way! We will be opening a new chapter at the Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, NC beginning January 1, 2015.

The proceeds from the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award of $25,000 and a special donor match of $25,000 will be used to institute the new chapter. We are so excited to be able to financially assist the families of children suffering from pediatric cancer in the Charlotte area! A special thank you to NASCAR Foundation for making this happen!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all their amazing support. To see the caring and outpouring of love from everyone to help these children and their families and bring such great awareness to Michael’s Way is very humbling. This was an amazing experience and it has made Michael’s Way a known charity in all different places.

I love seeing everyone interacting on Facebook, the families, the children, and all our supporters. That is more than I could ever ask for. We are winners all the way around for all that we accomplished out of this great opportunity given to us by The NASCAR Foundation.

It was such a great experience in Las Vegas and to have young Danny Hill and his family with us made it even more special. He is a great young man, fighting the fight and winning! He is kicking cancer butt! He is my Hero!

We got to spend time with all the finalist and they are amazing people doing great things!

I have a new buddy, our winner Daniel. He is truly an amazing young man, God’s greatness definitely shines through him. The moment I met him I started voting for him!

And through this wonderful experience and the $25,000 we received from the Nascar Foundation we are going to start a chapter of Michael’s Way in Charlotte NC, to benefit the children and the Levine hospital!

I would like to give special thanks to the Pocono Raceway family for nominating us, it has been an amazing opportunity for our charity.
And thank you to the Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House, Trevdan, PMC Property Group, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and the entire Michael’s Way family. Yes we are family now!

And yes ….. My Brother Would Be Proud !

Watch Video

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Philly non-profit is in the running for a big gift that could help hundreds of families dealing with a medical crisis.

The charity has distributed more than $6 million for thousands of families. We met two of them at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

Cayley Colon had just turned five when she was diagnosed with cancer of the kidneys. Her mother, Reina Suarez, took time off work, but bills don’t take a break. “My car, how I’m going to pay my car insurance?” Reina said. “Without my car insurance, I wouldn’t be able to get back and forth to work.”

“That means they have no income coming in, and they fall behind financially,” said real estate developer Chris McElwee.

In 1996, he founded the non-profit Michael’s Way in Philadelphia. The charity pays an average of $3,000 in non-medical bills for needy families facing cancer. “Michael’s Way has probably helped at least 80 percent of our families,” said St. Christopher’s oncology social worker Robin Capecci. The families helped include the family of four-year-old Zander, who has leukemia. Zander’s mother, Sandy Casanova, said Michael’s Way helped with “my mortgage. They have helped me with my car payments. They have helped me with some of the utility bills. So if it wasn’t for them, you know…”

Chris was inspired by his late brother Michael, a carpenter who died of cancer in 1983. “And even during that time, he was always helping others,” Chris said. “It was just his way. And that’s Michael’s Way.”

“Without Michael’s Way, I wouldn’t know where we’d be at today,” Reina said.

Michael’s Way raises money through t-shirt sales, donations and fundraisers and now is a finalist for a NASCAR charity contest. The most votes wins. “And if we win, we win $100,000 for our charity, and $100,000 goes a long way to help some families,” Chris said.

Chris takes no salary. Neither does anyone else at the charity, so they can help as many families as they can. The NASCAR voting ends December 4, 2014. If you want to vote for Chris McElwee and Michael’s Way, visit: www.nascar.com/award

To donate to Michael’s Way, visit: www.michaelsway.org

Dear Chris and Michael’s Way,

Thank you so much for paying our mortgage! Our 3-year-old daughter recently underwent surgery at CHOP for pilomyxoid astrocytoma, a form of brain tumor. After the surgery, she stayed in the acute rehab unit for more than a month. My husband and I were at her bedside the entire time and had to stay in the Ronald McDonald house next door. Needless to say, we racked up so many expenses. When our social worker told us your organization could help with non-medical expenses, we couldn’t believe it. But we believed it after Michael’s Way sent a $1,714 check to our mortgage company.

Once again, thank you so very much for your generosity!

Sincerely,

Susan and Michael Burke

Lansdale, PA