Roanoke children’s hospital receives $2M donation from Southwest Virginia foundation

The Life Ring Foundation has donated $2 million to Carilion Children’s, Southwest Virginia’s local Children’s Miracle Network hospital.

The Roanoke hospital provides pediatric hematology and oncology in a new cancer center.

“Every day in the U.S., approximately 43 children are diagnosed with cancer, and 1 out of 5 will not survive,” Life Ring Foundation Co-founder Kelly Woolwine said. “Children diagnosed with cancer in southwest Virginia do not have the weapons they need to win the war. We are losing kids simply due to lack of tools to fight, and the Life Ring Foundation hopes to improve that outcome.”

Proceeds from the first in a series of fundraising events organized by the foundation are included in the gift, including The Darius Rucker concert in Roanoke’s Elmwood Park amphitheatre in June that attracted a sellout crowd and the Charlotte’s Play Yellow Invitational golf tournament at Ballyhack Golf Club in July with celebrity guests Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler, Joe Theismann, Roger Clemens, Billy Wagner and well-known current and former Hokies.

The foundation has served as a resource since 2005 to support families throughout southwest Virginia in financial crises due to childhood cancer, and was founded by Jessica and Kelly Woolwine out of genuine passion to make Southwest Virginia a happier and healthier place. Their goal was to change “the narrative in which kids must leave Roanoke to receive treatment, to one that transforms our region as a hub for families to move to receive proper care. We can no longer stand for loss of our children’s lives to lack of resources. Our children are the Valley’s future.”

“We are deeply grateful to the Life Ring Foundation and their donors for this generous gift that will allow us to make meaningful progress toward our common goal of bringing the latest, most advanced care to children fighting cancer in southwest Virginia,” Nancy Howell Agee, Carilion Clinic’s Chief Executive Officer, said.

This gift is part of the foundation’s Fighting Kids Cancer campaign, which launched in January of 2023. The five-year initiative aims to transform the state of care for children diagnosed with cancer in southwest Virginia by funding critical resources and superior treatment for local children fighting cancer and blood disease, and their families.