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by Candace Smith
By Candace Smith
The statistics on pediatric cancer are stag-
gering. According to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, “one in 330 children will be diagnosed with cancer by the time they are 20 years old” and “every year, an estimated 263,000 new cases of cancer affect children under the age of 20 worldwide.” Still,
even with widespread donation initiatives, such as Alex’s Lemonade Stand, to help bring awareness and find a cure for childhood cancer, there is still much more work to be done to fight against the deadly disease.
Since 1998, Hyundai Motor America has done more than just marketing and selling automobiles. The company has committed itself to funding pediatric cancer research so that afflicted children and pediatric cancer survivors can live longer lives cancer-free and other children will never have to know what it is like to experience a young life with cancer. During this year’s 106th annual NAACP convention in our hometown of Philadelphia (!), we were grateful to have the opportunity to sit down with Zafar Brooks, the Program Executive Director for Hyundai Hope on Wheels, and Melanie Fiona, Canadian two-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer and Hyundai Hope on Wheels Celebrity Ambassador, about their individual responsibilities to ultimately eradicate pediatric cancer. urbansuburbanmagazine.com Philadelphia 3
Urban Suburban (to Melanie Fiona): As the latest celebrity ambassador for Hyundai Hope on Wheels, what do you hope to achieve being one of the faces and voices of this campaign? Melanie Fiona - Grammy Award-Winning R&B recording artist: Well, definitely as Zafar said, we are aiming for a 100 percent cure rate. I think that children deserve the hope and opportunity to live a long, healthy life. The success rate has already come to 80 percent and we need to bring in that 20 percent and make it 100. I’m at the point in my career where giving is receiving, to be honest. Having a platform of over half a million followers on Twitter and a few hundred thousand on Instagram and other social media platforms, it’s important to bring awareness to causes that need it. I’ve lent my voice and my talent to causes in the past that have either benefitted cancer or women’s issues. The Hope on Wheels cause is so important; we were all children. We had the opportunity to be a healthy child and live a full life to get to where we are to do what we do. Music, in my opinion, is healing as well, so by using my voice and my time and partnering with a great company...I’m just happy to be a part of the project now and we are going to keep building. Urban Suburban: What have been some of your experiences as a Hope on Wheels Ambassadors? What are your future steps? Fiona: We did an event in New York where I got to meet kids there, such as the youth ambassadors, who are also cancer survivors. We want to take Hope on Wheels to as many hospitals as possible and build bigger concerts and initiatives to bring awareness to this. We want to give kids something positive to look forward to. It’s music, it’s a visit from somebody that might love or discover my music, and ending up growing with my art for many years. It’s nice to know that what I do is impressionable upon these kids in a positive way, and that’s really the goal.
awake. I just want my music to always make people feel stronger and more present with themselves. That’s what my new album is about. Urban Suburban: How has your time at the 106th NAACP convention and in Philadelphia in general? Fiona: I’m totally stoked because I met President Obama! I’m so excited about that. It’s my first and only day here at the convention for my Meet and Greet and performance. Meeting everyone at the convention here has been great! The highlight, for me, has definitely been meeting the President.
Urban Suburban: What have the children taught you about the human spirit since becoming a Hyundai Hope on Wheels Celebrity Ambassador? Fiona: Pure optimism. Pure light and optimism. As kids, we are fearless. I remember when I was a kid I was fearless and didn’t have a care in the world. I didn’t have any insecurities. That’s what these kids are. When their mortality is faced with them at such a young age, it’s amazing to see the resilience that they have. As adults we tend to be more pessimistic and negative. “Oh, the world is coming to an end!” Children just have this resilient bounce back that is just inspiring. I think we can all learn from kids. Urban Suburban: I understand that you’ve just released a new single called, “Bite the Bullet”, and are gearing up to release a new album soon. What more can we expect next from you in terms of your career this year? Fiona: I just got off of a mini-tour and I was performing some new material during it. The single, “Bite the Bullet”, has already been released, and its music video will be out in a couple of weeks. I’m releasing more music and the album is almost finished. That will be released in the fall and is called “Awake”. I’m really excited about it; it’s my third album. I just feel like it’s a great body of work! I’ve been working on the album with Andre Harris, Philly native, executive producer, and once part of the Dre and Vidal duo. We’ve just been in the studio together for the last couple of years making something really true to who I am, how I’ve grown, how I’ve become 4 urbansuburbanmagazine.com Philadelphia
Urban Suburban: The NAACP represents diversity, and this has become a constant buzzword in the past few years. What does diversity and inclusion mean to you both? Fiona: Diversity is a part of my identity. I’m from Toronto. I grew up in a very diversity city. I’m also mixed culturally and my music has taken me all over the world and it’s brought people from all different cultures, creeds, religions, and backgrounds together. Diversity, like Zafar said, is such a beautiful thing because it’s strength when people can come together from all walks of life. Variety is the spice of life and everything tastes better that way! I don’t believe in putting things in boxes and diversity allows room for all.
To learn more about pediatric cancer, Hyundai Hope on Wheels, and how you can help the fight to end childhood cancer, please go to www.huyndaihopeonwheels.org for more information.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels Urban Suburban Magazine: What is Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels initiative and what do your roles within it entail? Zafar Brooks, Program Executive Director for Hyundai Hope on Wheels- Hyundai Hope on Wheels is a nonprofit initiative started in 1998 by Hyundai Motor Company. It is our corporate philanthropy area and it is its own nonprofit 501c3. We fund childhood cancer research and a cure. Since 1998 we funded about 100 million dollars plus in research for kids with cancer. We do it all across the country. I am the executive director of the program and have been running it since 2007. Each year our goal is to find research to find a cure but also to create awareness so that the public understands why this issue is important. We were so pleased this year when Melanie accepted our invitation to be our Celebrity Ambassador of Hope for Hyundai Hope on Wheels. She lends her voice and travels around the country to raise more awareness on the importance of this issue and the disease itself. Melanie is a superstar in her own right, but she’s socially conscious and believes in giving back, and believes in children. Those were the values we identified with and we wanted her to join us. She has been gracious enough to do so. Urban Suburban: To shed further light on the subject, what are some of the statistics in regards to pediatric cancer that you can inform our readers about? Brooks: That’s a great question. Every 36 minutes, a child in this country is diagnosed with cancer. That’s 44 kids a day. That’s enough kids to fill up a classroom, Saturday, Sunday, doesn’t take summers off, doesn’t take vacations, or weekends. It knows no color, no region, and no gender. It’s simply an issue that affects far, far too many kids, about 15,000 a year. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in this country for kids today. It kills more kids than asthma, diabetes, heart disease than anything else. The good thing news is- 8 in 10 of those cancers can be cured. The bad news is- if you are those two, of course that’s a 100 percent mortality rate. We are really trying to help close that gap. Through funding of research over the last 17 years, we’ve hoped we made some progress. Urban Suburban: How has your time at the 106th NAACP convention and in Philadelphia in general? Urban Suburban: How has your time at the 106th NAACP convention and in Philadelphia in general? Brooks: I have to say the same- meeting the President of the United States of America, President Obama. He’s so inspiring and he has such a wonderful message and vision. It’s an honor when you get a chance to meet your president. The NAACP is such an amazing organization. I think I heard that were up to 8,000 people here, one of the highest attended conferences in many years. I think that’s a testament to the spirit of the people of Philadelphia who came out and the relevancy of the organization and all of the issues they have taken on around the country that have
meant so much to our community, and indeed to the larger society. It’s been inspiring to see them. Chairman (Roslyn M.) Brock gave a rousing message of inspiration on the first day and President (Cornell William) Brooks gave a great message, and then to hear President Obama...it’s been a pretty special convention. Congratulations to the people of Philadelphia because you did a wonderful job. Urban Suburban: The NAACP represents diversity, and this has become a constant buzzword in the past few years. What does diversity and inclusion mean to you both? Brooks: For me, diversity means we’re better when everyone is included. There’s that expression- “we never knew how good baseball could be until everyone played.” We all bring our difference to the table and understanding those differences and being able to leverage those to make society a better place, to make our work product a better place, to make our organization a better place. We are better when everyone’s voice has a chance to be heard. Urban Suburban: What are your immediate goals for the remainder of the year for Hyundai Hope on Wheels? Brooks: This year we are going to fund 15 million dollars in research. We are going to 72 institutions, with Philadelphia (as one of the cities housing) one of those 72 centers. Dr. Peter Adamson, Chief of Oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia serves on our board. (By the time that this interview has been published, Melanie Fiona will have already visited children afflicted with pediatric cancer at CHOP). We hope to create more awareness for the public, to understand this issue is important. We want families and parents of children with pediatric cancer to know that they are not alone and that they are not going through this by themselves. We are with them. We are in their corner. One of the things we are inviting the public to do is to certainly go online and donate to our cause at hyundaihopeonwheels.org. We would also like to get a 100,000 Facebook likes. We have about 80,000 now. But we would like to get 100,000 likes because that would tell those families and children that they are not in this by themselves. We are with them together.
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