Meet the Rest of This Year’s Health Hero Challenge Semifinalists

Last week, we introduced you to five of the 10 semifinalists for this year’s Be Well Philly Health Hero Challenge presented by Independence Blue Cross. Today, you get to meet the rest!

Remember, you can cast your vote once per day, every day, through July 29th for who you believe should be named the 2024 Health Hero and win a $15,000 donation to their selected charity. (The two runners-up will each win a $2,500 donation to their charities of choice!)

Without further ado, meet the second half of the semifinalists.

Who: Josh Frank, founder and president of the Live Like Brent Foundation.

Nonprofit of choice: The Live Like Brent Foundation, which raises money to provide financial support to blood cancer patients for needs like medication, lodging, transportation and rehab during their treatment. Brent Evans, who battled stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, began the charity in 2012 with a grassroots ski and snowboard charity festival called Carve 4 Cancer. After his passing in 2017, his friends and family (including Josh, the foundation’s current president) have continued to honor his legacy and cause through LLBF. And their annual fund-raising events include Brent’s original one: Carve 4 Cancer.

What motivates you to improve the lives of your community members?
“When Brent was sick, I saw firsthand what cancer patients go through. Not only are their lives completely turned upside down, but the financial burden on top of it all is unimaginable. Brent asking me to help start this organization is the greatest gift I have ever received. It has become my passion, and being able to play a role in helping others during their battle with cancer motivates me every day. Brent’s selflessness continues to inspire me and so many others. In the wake of his passing, he left an amazing team of LLBF volunteers, sponsors, and partners who have followed his lead and relentlessly continue the work he started all those years ago.”

Who: Erin Kreszel, co-founder and executive director of The Bee Foundation for Brain Aneurysm Prevention. Along with her sister, Christine Kondra, she founded the organization in 2014 after their cousin, Jennifer Sedney, died from a brain aneurysm rupture at age 27. “Soon after Jenny passed,” Erin explains, “Christine and I became committed to ensuring that no other family would experience the devastation that ours had. After learning staggering statistics, like one in 50 people have a brain aneurysm, and recognizing the significant lack of resources surrounding brain aneurysms, we created TBF with one goal: to save lives by preventing brain aneurysm ruptures.”

Nonprofit of choice: The Bee Foundation for Brain Aneurysm Prevention aims to prevent brain aneurysm ruptures through research, awareness, advocacy and support. The second largest organization in the world dedicated to brain aneurysm prevention, TBF has funded 18 preventative research grants, met with Congress to introduce the first brain aneurysm research bill, and hosted support groups for survivors and caretakers.

What motivates you to improve the lives of your community members?
“When my cousin Jenny passed away from a brain aneurysm, I felt she had left me with a gift: to put my passion towards an underserved condition in desperate need of awareness and funding, likewise fulfilling her dreams of making a difference in this world. After an empowering day lobbying on the Hill on TBF’s fifth anniversary, I made the decision to leave my 15-year career in investments to build our now seven-person team, elevating TBF to the next level.

“Jenny’s story is not unique. Statistics show that approximately 31,000 people in the city of Philadelphia alone will experience a brain aneurysm. A rupture occurs every 18 minutes, with 50 percent of those ruptures ending in death. 500,000 deaths worldwide are caused by ruptures, half of which affect people under the age of 50. These statistics are not widely known by the public or many health-care professionals. My motivation stems from the tough reality that these stories of loss could have — and should have — been different.”

Who: Vito Baldini, founder and executive director of Small Things. Vito started this nonprofit after overcoming addiction and becoming a pastor. Originally called the Easter Project, he began Small Things during the pandemic, bringing area churches together to provide 40,000 meals to those experiencing poverty and food insecurity in Philadelphia

Nonprofit of choice:  Established due to increased food insecurity during the COVID pandemic, Small Things works with local partners and community leaders to alleviate poverty, increase food security and address other community needs. Since its inception, Small Things has distributed enough food for more than 45,000 people to have a meal every day for a year. They also operate two Small Things Markets — in Center City and Fairhill — serving fresh food to the unhoused and low-income communities, with plans for a third market this fall. He changed their name from the Easter Project to Small Things, inspired by a Mother Theresa quote: “We cannot all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.”

What motivates you to improve the lives of your community members?
“My faith and my addiction are my everyday motivation. When I was an active addict, the people who treated me with dignity and respect called out in me the will to change, to save my life. They might have thought of dignity and respect as “small things,” but I am here today because their attitudes became my foundation for lasting change. Today, I am motivated to give back what was freely given to me. I recently read one in five Philadelphians don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Those numbers tell me I’m in the right place, especially because when we started there was far more food available due to COVID relief efforts. Those surpluses have dried up, but the city’s hunger hasn’t. But it’s not just numbers. It’s about people. My faith in God teaches me every day that people should be treated with dignity. Every person matters deeply to God. Spend an afternoon with us in Fairhill, or our warehouse, or at our Saturday meal in Center City, and you’ll see it too.”

Who: Colette Acker, co-founder and executive director of the Breastfeeding Resource Center.

Nonprofit of choice: The Breastfeeding Resource Center provides support, education and resources to breastfeeding families through clinical and educational breastfeeding services — including in-office, telehealth, and home visit lactation consultations — as well as free and low-cost parenting and education workshops. Additionally, the BRC offers free consults for uninsured families. They also aim to improve health care through professional symposiums — most recently, one focused on tongue-tie, a condition that can make it difficult for babies to breastfeed.

What motivates you to improve the lives of your community members?
“After having my own children I saw a need for peer support with breastfeeding. After being a breastfeeding counselor in my community, I became an IBCLC [International Board Certified Lactation Consultant] in 1998. This is when the vision to have a nonprofit breastfeeding center in the community that would serve all families, regardless of their ability to pay for services, was born. It took five years to raise the seed money to start the Center. Over the past 21 years we’ve been be able to grow and help even more families. In the past four years alone, we have served over 9,000 families.”

Who: Amy Carolla, founder of Balanced fitness center in Chestnut Hill and the co-founder of B Inspired.

Nonprofit of choice: Partnering with area nonprofits, B Inspired empowers underserved middle-school students “to become champions of their own well-being” through the nonprofit’s wellness program and “out-of-school time (OST) programs” like summer camps and after-school activities. “Our program is designed to spark interest in the arts, foster a love of reading and creative writing, and enhance fitness, athletic abilities, and overall well-being,” Amy says. Partners include the Philadelphia Ballet, the Eagles, art museums, Outward Bound, and more Philly organizations to enrich kids’ time out of school. They also make and distribute B Inspired Bags, providing healthy snacks and school supplies to kids in need before Thanksgiving and summer break.

What motivates you to improve the lives of your community members?
“B Inspired Philadelphia supports personal wellness and social impact, showing how these components are inherently interconnected. Leveraging factors like exercise, stress management (through journaling and meditation), cultivating friendships, and cultivating community, we demonstrate the link between personal wellness and social impact. We believe that social impact and community health are essential for achieving personal wellness.

“I believe our contributions to the community highlight the importance of coming together in a meaningful way to live well and long. By understanding that health and wellness shouldn’t be a luxury, we have focused on creating an organization that embodies this sentiment. Delivering health and wellness services to the underserved members of our community is the most significant contribution we can make. This collective effort not only improves individual lives but also strengthens the community as a whole.”

Vote for your 2024 Health Hero once per day, every day, now through July 29th!