| Founder(s) | James Chippendale, Mike Peters |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-Profit (IRS exemption status): 501(c)(3)[1] |
| Founded | 2007[2] |
| Location | 4956 Colfax Ave. Denver, CO 80220 USA |
| Key people | Shannon Foley, Director[3] Sean Thomas, National Event Director[4] |
| Area served | Global |
| Focus | Cancer, Music |
| Motto | "Saving lives, one concert at a time!" |
| Website | www.LoveHopeStrength.org |
James Chippendale and fellow cancer survivor Mike Peters, of The Alarm, launched the Love Hope Strength Foundation in 2006 in hopes of providing critical funding and awareness for cancer centers worldwide. The mission is to save lives, right now, with the advances that have already been made in cancer care. The Love Hope Strength Foundation (LHSF) is an international, music-centric cancer charity dedicated to providing support for cancer centers and inspiration to those affected throughout the world. With chapters in the United States, United Kingdom, South America, Africa and Australia, the Love Hope Strength Foundation is now one of the fastest growing cancer foundations in the world. Together, we are traveling the globe to remote venues such as the base camp of Mt. Everest, the top of The Empire State Building, the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, and Mount Kilimanjaro to name a few! We are collectively reaching out through the universal language of music to purchase life saving equipment, spread awareness, promote early detection, and register people to the international marrow database. Joining the Love Hope Strength Army in the battle against cancer are musicians from every corner of the globe. High school bands and Nepalese folk singers, to legends in rock n’ roll such as members of The Cult, The Stray Cats, Gin Blossoms, Chuck Berry, The Fixx, Jason Mraz, Spoon, The Bravery, and hundreds more have done their part to help spread the word through music.
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As of 2010, cancer is now the world’s #1 killer and will touch each and every one of us in our lifetime.[5] It is a global issue in need of support from a worldwide network. In 2007, the Love Hope Strength Foundation was co-founded by leukemia survivors Mike Peters of the Welsh rock band The Alarm and President of CSI Entertainment James Chippendale who believe that awareness, early detection and proper treatment should not be a luxury and wanted to find a way to ensure that all people have access to the same resources that saved their lives.
The Love Hope Strength Foundation is an international, music-centric cancer charity dedicated to saving lives, one concert at a time. The mission is to save lives, right now, with the advances that have already been made in cancer care. We do not fund cancer research, rather we use our funds to:
• Build and support cancer centers around the globe
• Build awareness of global cancer needs
• Build international marrow registries through the "GET ON THE LIST" campaign[6]
With headquarters in Denver, CO and chapters in Dallas, Peru, United Kingdom and Australia, the Love Hope Strength Foundation has performed concerts on 6 continents in just three year’s time. We led musical pilgrimages to remote venues such as the base camp of Everest, the top of The Empire State Building, the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, the glaciers of Kilimanjaro, the sunrise of Mount Fuji, the Valleys of Rhondda and reached out through the universal language of music. We have also teamed up with DKMS, the world’s largest marrow registry, to expand our reach by conducting bone marrow drives at concerts, music festivals and events in the United States and United Kingdom so that people, like founder James Chippendale himself, can find the match that will save their lives. .Joining the Love Hope Strength Army in the battle against cancer are musicians from every corner of the globe. High school bands and Nepalese folk singers, to legends in rock n’ roll such as members of The Cult, The Stray Cats, Donavon Frankenreiter, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Jason Mraz, Disco Biscuits, Flight of the Conchords, Brett Dennen, Michael Franti, Gin Blossoms, The Fixx, Tokyo Police Club, Squeeze, Candlebox, Seether, Smithereens, Dick Dale, Everclear and hundreds more have done their part to help spread the word through music. Each event is documented under the guidance of critically acclaimed producer, Alex Coletti, to build awareness through programs like Everest Rocks, now airing on MTV’s High Def channel, Palladia and NBC’s Universal Sports.
James Chippendale is founder and CEO of CSI Entertainment Insurance, one of the largest entertainment and sports insurance brokers in the country. James has become a national figure as a leukemia spokesperson and survivor, and co-founder of his rock n’ roll charity Love Hope Strength Foundation. James has made over 350 media appearances, including ABC, Fox News, CNN, USA TODAY, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Good Morning America, American Way, The New York Times, and The Howard Stern Radio and TV shows. In addition, he hosts a lifestyle television segment called “Last Call with James Chippendale” that airs in Dallas on Sunday nights during the sports show “Out of Bounds” on NBC. The segment showcases an athlete, musician or celebrity’s favorite place to eat, drink, dance, play or hang with friends and family.
Mike Peters is the lead singer and songwriter of internationally acclaimed Welsh rock and roll band, The Alarm and a cancer survivor two times over. Mike has successfully fought The Big C on two occasions; once in 1995 when he battled Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and more recently in 2006 when he was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocyte Leukemia (CLL). Throughout a six month spell of high dose chemotherapy, Mike Peters continued to play and perform with his band The Alarm, taking to the stage each time in his trademark ‘green’ combat fatigues (which has become our symbol of hope after a faith healer gave him the revelation that ‘green’ was the healing color in his life).
“Mike Peters – On the Road to Recovery”, a revealing BBC documentary chronicling Mike’s inspiring story, was screened in October 2006. The cameras were allowed into the treatment and dressing rooms of Mike’s life throughout the last six months of his cancer fight. The filming also included Mike and his wife Jules in their successful struggle to conceive a child through IVF. Evan Michael Peters was born January 1, 2007.
Mike Peters formed The Alarm in Rhyl, North Wales, in 1981 and has led the band to hit records in each of the three decades since: 16 UK hit singles (68 Guns, Spirit Of ‘76, Rain In The Summertime), and a host of successful albums with over 5 million sales worldwide. Mike Peters has appeared with or been joined on stage by such rock and roll luminaries as U2, Bob Dylan and Neil Young.
Shannon is the executive director of Love Hope Strength. Shannon’s younger brother, Ryan, was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 23. Later that same year she lost her grandfather to cancer. Thanks to 2 aggressive surgeries and chemotherapy, Ryan has successfully beaten cancer, received his MBA and is living in Austin, TX (way too far from his sister!).
Prior to joining LHS, Shannon was General Manager of Denver’s Jet Hotel, Manager of Marketing, Events and Corporate Sales for Public House Ltd and Director of Brand Identity for the accounting firm, Grant Thornton. In 2002, Shannon moved to Kenya for an independent brand development project with Tradition Safaris. Shannon received her BS in Marketing from Boston College. She currently resides in Denver, CO.
George is the County Manager for Union County, New Jersey and has been involved in New Jersey government and politics throughout his career. He was the Executive Director of the NJ Democratic State Committee during President Clinton’s first election and has also served as the Director of Policy and Planning for the City of Elizabeth overseeing an aggressive economic development agenda.
He has been involved with the Love Hope Strength Foundation since its inception. The goals and mission of the LHSF led George to partner Union County’s Musicfest with the Foundation. Now in its third year the Rock On! Walkathon and 5k Rock N’ Run at Musicfest have become anticipated community events.
Cancer will touch each and every one of us in our lifetime. It touched George at the same time he became involved with the Love Hope Strength Foundation. These circumstances led George to also personally assist in the Foundation’s inaugural Empire State climb and then to trek to Base Camp Everest and Machu Picchu.
Now, as a Board member George plans to do all he can to bring resources to assist the Foundation to make sure everyone stricken by Cancer has access to information and treatment globally and locally where Foundation events take place.
Alex is award winning tv producer/director from Brooklyn, NY. Career highlights include the acclaimed music series MTV Unplugged, 5 MTV Video Music Awards, 2 Superbowl halftime shows, Everest Rocks and most recently Spectacle: with Elvis Costello. Alex and his team will, once again, be trekking with us to the top of Kilimanjaro to capture the event for a feature documentary.
Our most momentous climb and concert benefiting The Nepal Cancer Relief Society (NCRS). Cancer survivors and co-founders of the Love Hope Strength Foundation (LHSF) Mike Peters and James Chippendale lead 40 musicians, cancer survivors and mountaineers to the 18,600 ft peak of Kala Patthar, just above Everest Base Camp, to perform an acoustic concert to help the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital build the infrastructure of its clinic, NCRS. Funds have purchased the very first mammography and Nucletron brachytherapy afterloader (internal radiation) for the country of Nepal.
“Everest Rocks” was a fourteen day trek and acoustic concert on Mt. Everest, with a grand finale rock concert in Kathmandu. The entire journey was captured by a documentary team headed by Alex Coletti (the acclaimed producer of MTV’s ‘Unplugged’ series). The list of performers included: Mike Peters (The Alarm), Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats), Glenn Tillbrook (Squeeze), Nick Harper (legendary UK folk artist), Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram (The Fixx) and local Nepalese artists.
HIghlights included a Guinness Book of World Record breaking concert for the highest concert on land, and the first show in Durbar Square in Kathmandy by western artists to an astounding audience of 15,000. The concert was aired live for 3 hours to surrounding countries to an audience of 4 million people. The "Everest Rocks" documentary is currently airing on Palladia to an estimated home viewing audience of 12 million homes nationwide.
About 170 supporters; including doctors, nurses and fans joined Mike Peters for the sponsored walk up the Llanberis path for Snowdon Rocks. Mike Peters arrived at the misty summit and joked, looking over his shoulder, “that was a long way to come to play on a building site!” Everyone’s efforts in reaching the summit were rewarded with the day’s only clearing in the clouds, timed to perfection just as the music started. The short set was part of the weekends fundraising efforts of the Foundation which was to raise awareness and funding for cancer research projects.
The first Snowdon Rocks in 2007 raised over £40,000 which was shared between The North Wales Cancer Centre at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, The Alaw Unit, Ysbyty Gwynedd and North Wales hospices at St. Kentigerns, St. David’s and Ty Gobaith. In 2008, the second ‘Snowdon Rocks’ raised even more funding, £45,000 which is once again being distributed throughout Cancer Care in North Wales.
“The exciting thing about getting involved in Snowdon Rocks,” says Mike Peters, “is that you get to see where your money goes. So far, the money raised can be seen in the newly built Eira suite at the North Wales Cancer Centre. “Cancer is the number one killer of mankind in the world today” continues Mike Peters, “and as I can testify, we are very, very fortunate to have world class cancer care on our doorstep in North Wales. Each and every one of us will have cause to deal with this dreaded disease at some point in our lifetime.”
All proceeds from Snowdon Rocks have gone directly to Cancer Care in North Wales, which diagnosed and successfully treated Mike Peters (a two times cancer survivor) for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) in 2005/06 and Non Hodgkins Lymphoma (1995). Mike Peters is still undergoing long term maintenance treatment at the Alaw Unit, Ysybyty Gwynedd with a view to finding a cure.
Love Hope Strength officially launched the foundation with Empire Rocks! The ceremonial climb up the 1600 steps and first ever concert atop the Empire State Building symbolized the first LHSF “Climb Back From Cancer”*. We were honored to have some of the world’s top musicians and music and video producers supporting our cause and the Love Hope Strength Foundation.
The event created a serious buzz among the press, current and future sponsors, music industry, celebrities, and fans. The all-star Everest Rocks band included: Mike Peters (The Alarm), Billy Duffy (The Cult), Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) and Dave Wakeling (The English Beat). The acoustic set was overseen by famed music producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Morrissey, Thin Lizzy) and video producer Alex Coletti (the acclaimed producer of MTV’s ‘Unplugged’ series) for a documentary that is being produced about the foundation and events.
The evening closed with a charity concert at Terra Blues in the East Village with performances by Mike Peters, Billy Duffy, Slim Jim Phantom, Dave Wakeling, Karl Dietel (The Samples) and Braddigan.
The charity raises funds for cancer treatment, promotes awareness and early detection, and advocates for bone marrow registration by holding rock concerts at remote, elevated venues, including Everest base camp,[7] the top of the Empire State Building[8], the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu[9], with a concert at Mount Kilimanjaro planned for 2009.[10] The UK organisation holds an annual trek to the top of Wales' highest mountain, Snowdon, each summer.
LHSF concerts feature both amateur and professional musicians, and have featured high-profile rock musicians including Chuck Berry, The Fixx's Cy Curnin, Squeeze's Glen Tilbrook, Everclear, The Beat, Nick Harper and members of The Cult.[11] The first four shows had raised almost $1 million by September 2008.[12]
LHSF is a beneficiary of a documentary film called More To Live For [3], which details James Chippendale's cancer and survivorship experience.