Love Hope Strength Foundation is a charitable foundation whose purpose is to raise funds and awareness in order to benefit people with cancer and leukaemia. The charity sponsors treks and climbs to the world's highest mountains, often performing musical concerts at the peak.

Origins

In the spring of 2001, at age 31,

James Chippendale James Chippendale (born circa 1969) is an American business executive and anti-leukemia campaigner and co-founder of the charitable organization, charity Love Hope Strength Foundation. He is also founder and CEO of an entertainment and sports ins ...

, an American businessman, was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, needing a

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, in order to replicate inside a patient and produce a ...

to recover. After his recovery in 2003, he founded a cancer charity, the Love Hope Strength Foundation (LHSF), with fellow survivor Mike Peters, a Welsh musician and lead singer with

The Alarm The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977 under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the group soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language ...

. Mike is a 3-time cancer survivor and an internationally acclaimed singer for the Welsh rock band

. Together they had the vision that LHSF could literally, “Save lives, one concert at a time!”

Activities

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, the top of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

, the Inca ruins of

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at . Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the ...

, with a concert at

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

in 2009. The UK organisation holds an annual summer trek to the top of Wales's highest mountain,

Snowdon Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...

, called ''Snowdon Rocks'', and to this have been added a number of other events, including ''Rhondda Rocks'', ''Avebury Rocks'' and ''Ben Nevis Rocks''. LHSF concerts feature both amateur and professional musicians and have featured high-profile rock musicians including

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

The Fixx The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' ...

Cy Curnin Cyril John Curnin (born 12 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter who serves as the lead vocalist for the new wave band, the Fixx. He has released five solo albums: ''Mayfly'' (2005), ''The Returning Sun'' (2007), ''Solar Minimum'' (20 ...

, Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook, Everclear, The Beat, Nick Harper, Chris Summerill and members of

The Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...

. The first four shows had raised almost $1 million by September 2008. LHSF is a beneficiary of a documentary film called ''More To Live For'', which details James Chippendale's cancer and survivorship experience.

References

External links

Love Hope Strength
Official site (USA)
Love Hope Strength
Official site (UK)
Love Hope Strength
Official site (Australia) Cancer organizations based in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Colorado {{charity-stub