Late in October, Kara and her family returned to the paranormal hotbed that is Harmony, PA. This time for a formal ghost hunt of the Harmony Museum! Chris and Melanie, Kara's role models and the founders of Steel Town Paranormal, are very familiar with the Harmony Museum and were positive it would provide a good training ground for Kara's first official investigation. Kara came equipped with her own "starter equipment" which served her well on her last visit to Harmony (she actually got something really interesting on video!) and Chris and Melanie brought a case of more advanced, professional grade gear. 

The hunt started in the cellar, where Chris and Melanie modeled tried and true ghost hunting protocol, and soon Kara and her whole family were joining in. The hunt then moved to the second floor library (which is believed to be haunted by Harmony founder Johann Rapp), and the ghost hunting equipment began to "go crazy." The investigation primarily centered around a desk with a locked drawer. Ultimately we were unable to open the drawer, but everyone left excited for the next hunt!  

Clarity LOVES to sing and make music. We think she could be best described as "a musical bundle of joy!" We were SO excited to introduce her to her role model and friend, Valerie! Valerie is a local musician, music teacher, and genuinely kindhearted person, and we knew she and Clarity would be great friends. Clarity has been taking piano lessons with Valerie for close to a month now and even just gave her first recital! 

Watch out world, this girl is coming! We can't wait to continue to watch Clarity grow and learn from Valerie.

Other fun facts about Clarity: has a twin sister, loves rainbows, favorite colors are pink and purple, enjoys playing Uno and Headbands, and was recently a frog  for Halloween (her twin was a princess- princess and the frog!).

Our constitutional lawyer friends met again for the second time, but if we didn't know better, we would think they've known each other for years! Ellen visited Sophia in the hospital during one of her inpatient stays to help pass the time. They haven't seen each other for quite some time, but they have been in touch through email and we can tell their friendship is growing like wild fire! Their visit was full of non-stop excited chatter discussing many of Ellen's recent adventures from her travels. Ellen brought back some reading materials from a seminar she attended on 25 Years of the Innocence Project. Sophia was excited to dig into that during the rest of her hospital stay. There was not a single lull during their entire visit! They passed the time making more exciting plans  together for the future and discussing the upcoming election. Sophia shared with Ellen that she has decided to take Latin in school, and Ellen promptly sent her a list of "helpful Latin phrases to throw around at parties." Sophia was very excited to introduce her doctors to "her mentor, Ellen" when they came in! We can't wait to see what these two are up to next! Stay tuned! 

What a pair!

In case you didn't know, here at CCChampions we LOVE making new friends! And we love when our friends make friends too! Today, for #NathionalNewFriendDay we are celebrating a new friendship between little miss Mara and her role model, Brittney! 

Brittney and Mara met for the first time this week, and we can already tell it's the start of a beautiful friendship! Though shy at first, Mara warmed up to Brittney and was full of questions! Including what those metal things on Brittney's teeth were- braces. They discussed what colors Brittney should get next for her braces and Mara showed off her loose tooth. The two new friends were able to visit the playroom, where they spent time playing with superheros and Mara picked a present out of the treasure box: an over the door basketball hoop! Brittney put the hoop together for Mara and they were able to shoot some hoops together. Stay tuned for more news as this friendship unfolds! 

Meet Kara, ghost hunter extraordinaire! When Kara told us she wants to be a ghost hunter when she grows up, we figured we had our work cut out for us finding role models. Luckily we were wrong! When we met Chris and Melanie, founders of Steel Town Paranormal, we knew they would make the perfect friends for Kara! The friends met for the first time last night in the famously haunted town of Harmony, PA, a town Chris and Melanie have spent much time in during long investigations. Kara, sister Sara, Mom, Dad, and dog Bubbles met Chris and Melanie in town and walked to the Harmony Inn, a restaurant Chris and Melanie have investigated many times. Over appetizers and desserts, the friends shared ghost stories, talked about investigation techniques, equipment, theories on what a "ghost" is and why certain places are haunted, and talked about places around the US Kara would like to investigate, many of which Chris and Melanie have been to! Kara had her ghost hunting kit with her and wanted to explore the restaurant, so after dinner we toured the Inn and discussed past events and ghost experiences that have happened there. Kara took LOTS of pictures and videos in the hopes of catching a ghost on camera! On the walk back to the car, they shared more stories and discussed other haunted buildings in the town of Harmony. Stay tuned for more adventures of Kara, Chris, and Melanie, including a real investigation!! 

Pictures are in and we are so excited to share! What an incredible evening of friendship, inspiration, and celebration of the amazing people that make what we do possible! 

From an incredibly successful sold out event, the wonderful silent auction, to a surprise finger painting event by Cody Sabol, the amazingly inspirational Wall of Stories, an incredible speech by Will Zytnick, the return of our amazing emcee, Sean Nolan, and of course, most importantly, celebrating our amazing kids and how they've inspired us throughout the past year with the 2018 Inspiration Awards, this very well may be our favorite Night of Inspiration yet! 

Cody Sabol, a famous local artist, performed a live speed finger painting of a local football hero that we were able to raffle off at the event. After the painting was complete, Cody invited all of our kids present that night to sign the painting with their hand print. What a beautiful piece of artwork- thank you Cody! Check out more of his work here: ​https://codysabolart.com/ 

Wall of stories is something very special and unique to Night of Inspiration. Wall of Stories is just what it sounds like- a wall of friendship stories of our kids and their role models. Each story is able to be sponsored in order to create more friendships just like those on the wall so that we can keep the smiles coming! Thanks to everyone who sponsored friendship moments this year! 

HUGE thank you to our sponsors! Without you, none of this would be possible! 

There aren't enough words to describe how thankful to everyone who attended, donated, or helped in any way with Night of Inspiration 2018! It truly was a magical evening and we couldn't do it without the help of so many wonderful people! We are already excited for next year! 

​Thomas, along with his brother and mom, got a full tour of the Schell Games headquarters, including the work spaces where the video game developers make the magic happen, secret passage ways and corridors, and the testing facilities where the games are play tested. They were able to play test a brand new demo of an upcoming game in virtual reality, play Schell's hit virtual reality game "I Expect You To Die," and even got to play Schell's augmented reality Star Wars game with coaching from the lead developer! 

Because of the nature of their work and the fact that they work for some pretty high profile clients, Schell can't talk about all of their exciting games coming up through development, but that sure didn't stop Thomas from taking a few guesses! We will just have to wait and see if his guesses were right!

Stay tuned for some exciting adventures we have planned for Thomas in Cyber-security! And as always, a huge thank you to our wonderful friends at Schell! 

For Amber and Sergeant Colleen's latest adventure in the world of law enforcement, they visited the Pittsburgh K-9 unit!

​Amber fearlessly put on the training suit and participated in the K-9 training! 

It warms our hearts beyond description to see the friendship between Amber and Sergeant Colleen grow, and we couldn't be more excited for Amber for all the learning opportunities Sergeant Colleen has been able to provide. Their past adventures include visits with the bomb squad and forensics lab, hospital visits and chats with Sergeant Colleen, and trips to the police academy, participation in traffic stops and firearms training, and demonstrations at the bomb squad's practice range!

This week's #FriendshipFriday is brought to you by Miss Isabella, ballerina extraordinaire! Isabella was one of our 2017 Night of Inspiration award winners!  A sweet, energetic,  future ballerina, she was matched with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre performer, Patsy Maxim. Patsy and Isabella’s adventures include trips to the Pittsburgh Ballet, and many visits at the hospital playing games, doing puzzles, dancing, and having fun! Having Pasty gave Isabella something to look forward to at the hospital during treatment. We hope you can make it to this year’s Night of Inspiration to find out who will receive the 2018 Inspiration Awards! For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.ccchampions.com/inspirtation

Meet Sean! Sean LOVES robots! And he is one of the most curious 10-year-olds we have met. We were so excited to introduce him Mark at CapSen Robotics! 

Sean and Mark had a great time touring CapSen and meeting Mark's coworkers! Sean loved learning about the robot that Mark is working to program. Sean had LOTS of questions for Mark! Mark talked about their development process and everything they have to do in order to get a robotics product ready for their client!

​They even got to check out the 3D Printer and printed a turtle and an alien!  

Sean can't wait to head back to CapSen again soon for more robot fun! 

Sophia is one smart cookie, and passionate too! If one thing is for sure, this girl knows what she wants- to be a constitutional lawyer who specializes in immigration and criminal justice reform. We were so happy to be able to connect her with Ellen Doyle of ​Feinstein Doyle Payne & Kravec, LLC.

Sophia and Ellen met for the first time this week and spent some quality time getting to know each other over coffee at a local cafe. Sophia was excited and had many questions for her experienced and knowledgeable role model. They discussed possible future plans for educational trips and a book they may read and discuss together. We are so excited for Sophia and her new friendship with Ellen! Stay tuned to hear about their next adventures in the coming months! 

What an incredible time for our little guy, Adrian! Last week, Adrian got to ring the bell in celebration of the end of his chemotherapy treatment. His special friends Will and Craig, members of Pitt's soccer team, were happy to be able to be a part of this special and emotional day for Adrian. 

Adrian, Will, and Craig spent many hours together during Adrian's treatments talking about Pokemon, playing video games, and just generally having an all-around good time, and we know they are looking forward to many more adventures now that treatment is done! Congratulations Adrian!! 

Tuesday was a gorgeous night for a ball game and an exciting day​ for CCChampions kids Austin and Sean! When asked if we knew anyone that would want to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Pirates game, we knew just who to call. 

Two-time champion over cancer, Austin, threw the first pitch of the game to fellow cancer defeater and close friend, Sean. Cool, calm, and collected, the boys didn't bat an eye at the pressure of being in front of thousands of people. They have been through much tougher situations together. 

After a flawless first pitch, the boys, along with Austin's grandmother and Sean's dad, got to enjoy the game from incredible seats in the Lexus Club, while the rest of the families and CCChampions friends watched from the stands, complimentary or AT&T SportsNet. 

​We even managed to get our hands on a foul ball! 

Austin and Sean are both alumni of the CCChampions program. Austin, who wants to be a star athlete, was matched with the Carlow men's basketball team. Sean, who wants to be a sports broadcaster, was matched with the Pirates own broadcaster Joe Block.
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Austin and Sean were featured in an article by Noah Hill. Check out his story here! 

And a special thank you to AT&T SportsNet for making this experience possible!

After one of Davis's visits to the hospital, Shawn invited Davis to his office to explore his world of video game making and video game testing. Davis would have tested Shawn's games all day if he could have!

Shawn was particularly excited to show off the Lego building Virtual Reality game that he helped to develop. Shawn was also excited to show off his amazing work place, complete with a new crow's nest, secret doors, and hidden rooms. Everyone loved the visit. Davis loved how all the employees' desks were littered with the coolest toys and it was hard to pull everyone away from the Virtual Reality machines (mom and dad included). 

As you can tell, he's very serious at work!

Friendship moments like these are so special. Instead of trips to Pittsburgh being a time for pricks and prods, for procedures and news about his illness, friendships like these help it become a place where he has a special friend waiting just for him.
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CCChampions question: If you could go anywhere in the world through virtual reality, where would you go?

Toot toot! 

Say hi to our newest kid, Parker! Parker is 9 years old, and cannot wait to become a train conductor! 

Everything in his hospital room is trains. Model trains, train tracks, everything!

We were so excited to introduce him to Conductor Brian!
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Conductor Brian visited Parker in Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and they instantly hit it off. 

He was so excited when we told him we'd be bringing in Conductor Brian -- he and his mom practiced asking questions beforehand! We didn't get a great picture (Parker didn't want to lose any time posing for pictures), but it's only his first friendship moment of many during his cancer journey!

Parker is hoping to get approval from his doctors to visit his new friend at the tracks soon!

Back in February 2017, something special began.

For the first time, David, a newly diagnosed teen, got to meet his CCChampions role model Cam Johnson. Cam may have 18 inches on David, but that didn't get in the way of David's classic trash-talking. 

David didn't wait long to challenge Cam in one of his favorite activities in the hospital -- nerf gun battles.

Cam would visit David throughout David's cancer journey, going on all sorts of adventures together. One of their favorites was a pizza eating competition at a restaurant around the corner from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Want to guess who won?

As David got better and better and started heading home, Cam had some good news too! He was transferring to University of North Carolina to be a starter on their Men's Basketball team! 

David and his family were super psyched for Cam, but David had a tough time saying goodbye. As David told us, he was just really going to miss his "brother Cam."

David followed Cam from hundreds of miles away, as Cam crushed the competition and got national recognition for his impact on the court for one of the best teams in the country.

But back home, David missed his CCChampions friend. They still texted each other and the friendship continued to grow, but trash-talking is done much better in person. Months passed, and David didn't know when he would see Cam next.


...until this week!

We're excited to share that these two superstars reunited for the first time in almost a year! They jumped right back in where they left off (if you look closely, you can see a pizza place in the background of the 2nd picture... ). 

Cam shared stories of grad school at UNC, and David shared his excitement for his upcoming baseball season. The brothers were re-united. 

Cam was there for David during the hardest of days. He gave David confidence, silliness, and lots of friendship. In so many ways, he helped David be a kid again. 

As we always say, our friendships aren’t just a one-time event or hospital visit -- the impact of a CCChampions friendship lasts a lifetime.

We met Gabe after he had a minor setback and was an inpatient at the hospital with a fever. He was almost literally bouncing off of the walls. We were happy to entertain him with a game of Jenga (one of his favorites) and a long discussion on everything going on outside his hospital window. Since that initial meeting, we have enjoyed visiting him during his clinic visits and taking trips to the Science Center and The Children’s Museum.​

We hope to introduce Gabe to some robotics role models soon!

Two years later, Dana joined our team as Administrative Assistant & Volunteer Coordinator, helping strengthen the volunteer program so more kids and volunteers could have friendships like hers with Anya.

Dana worked for six years in college and grad school studying physical training, health, and wellness, and we couldn't be more happy for her as she starts to fly in that field!

Three cheers for Dana!

(P.S. As you may have guessed, there's a job opening at CCChampions! www.CCChampions.com/assistant)

Several weeks ago, Kristie and her family were invited by Detective Becky to see the bomb squad! We matched Kristie with Detective Becky because of Kristie's interest in becoming a police officer one day. Kristie and her family had a great day visiting the Bomb Squad. She especially LOVED driving the robot!

Having the chance to visit the Bomb Squad and see everything behind the scenes, Kristie has had some pretty awesome visits thanks to Detective Becky.

Kristie was also able to visit the SWAT team, as well as the Pittsburgh River Rescue! She is certainly learning a lot about all the different pathways she can take as a police officer. Stay tuned to see what adventure Kristie goes on next!

This past weekend Madison and Dan didn't just meet at the Pittsburgh Penguin's ice hockey training arena in Cranberry, they were on it! Madison, along with CCChampions staff and friends, accompanied Para-Olympian, Dan McCoy, for an afternoon of fun and sled hockey!

Dan provided everyone with the appropriate gear and attire as everyone excitedly went onto the ice. To say the least, sled hockey is no joke! Everyone had the chance to slide around the rink while attempting to pass the puck to one another (which was not an easy task).

Madison and Dan have remained good friends and plan to meet again soon for more lessons!