How a grieving mom created a pediatric cancer nonprofit
Plus: Top news of the week — Duke Energy explains blackouts — JCSU president says he'll retire — City Council considers stretching terms to 4 years — 3 workers die in scaffolding collapse
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Q&A: Diane Restaino created the Joedance Film Festival soon after her son’s death in 2010, and she discusses why after 13 years she decided it was time to bring it to an end
Diane Restaino’s son Joe was 16 when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer. Shortly before he died in 2010 at the age of 20, he asked his mother to honor his memory by raising money for three things: to fund a clinical trial, to create an internship program for college students and to find a way to be part of pediatric cancer research every day.
After Joe’s death, Diane quickly got to work creating the Joedance Film Festival (named after the Sundance Film Festival), which over the last 13 years grew into a well-known screening festival for filmmakers. The non-profit raised more than $400,000 for Atrium Health Levine Children’s pediatric cancer program.
Restaino and the Joedance board announced in December 2022 that they were ending the film festival, although people can still donate to the Joedance Pediatric Cancer Fund through the Atrium Health Foundation.
Restaino recently sat down with Ledger managing editor Cristina Bolling in an episode of the Charlotte Ledger Podcast to talk about the experience of creating a nonprofit in honor of a child, and how she decided it was time to end the festival. This Q&A is an edited excerpt of their conversation.
Q: Tell us about Joe’s story and what motivated you to start Joedance.
Joedance started with a conversation that Joe and I had very early one morning. He said, “You know, Mom, I’d like you to do something in Charlotte. I’d like you to raise money. I’m not asking you to find a cure. I just want to find better treatments with better outcomes.” Joe had osteosarcoma, which is a very rare, hard disease. The treatments are harsh.
He gave me a list of what he wanted me to accomplish. On that list was a clinical trial, which we have done. He wanted to establish an internship program for college students, which we have established. He wanted to be part of research every day, and the way we approached that is that we funded a Level 3 research technician in the pediatric cancer lab — we funded his salary for two years. We checked everything off, and he’s made a difference in kids’ lives.
Q: Why did you decide on creating a film festival to raise money? And how quickly did Joe’s request become your marching orders?
Joedance started eight months after he passed away. He said, “I don’t want you to do a 5K, a gala or a luncheon. I don’t want you to tell anybody else’s story. I want you to tell my story.”
We did a film festival because that's what our family did together — we went to the movies. If you've ever lived in Dallas, Texas, in the summer, it is so hot. There was a movie theater that played kids’ movies once or twice a week. And then when [my three sons] got a little bit older, we started a tradition of going to the movies on New Year’s Eve.
[The idea to raise money through a film festival] just kind of grew out of an event that we were already doing in the courtyard of our Fourth Ward townhome. We were showing films on the side of our townhome for everybody that lived there. We were just sitting in my living room with our neighbor and I said, “This is what we should do.”
People have said that to me: “This was probably a way for you to grieve.” It was not a channel for me to grieve. It was very purposeful, and I have never sat down quietly in 13 years to grieve. My grieving starts today. It was more of a purpose for me. And more of a promise that I made to Joe than a channel to grieve.
Q: How do you set out to build a nonprofit when you didn’t come from a nonprofit background?
I had a lot of people that I could lean on for advice. I talked to people at Atrium Health a lot. I made that promise to Joe, and I was just gonna figure it out. We didn’t file for a 501(c)(3) until 2012. Then we found a festival director. I guess I knew that there was something there because the first year we donated $960, then it was $1,978, and then it was $2,800. And I could see the money going up, and I’m thinking, “Oh, maybe we have something pretty unique here.” In 2013, we donated $25,000. So when we hit that, I was like, “Yeah, we’ve got something pretty unique.”
Q: What led you to decide to end the festival? How did you know it was time?
It wasn’t a decision I entered into lightly. It took me several years to get to this point. Two years ago, we had checked everything off of Joe’s list, and we had a good amount of money in the pediatric cancer fund. I set a goal that I wanted to leave at least $300,000 in that pediatric cancer fund, because I knew that would last for a good while.
I also knew that there was going to be a certain time period for Joedance, because it was not open-ended. It was: These are our goals, this is what we need to accomplish. We did that. So I knew it was going to end at some point, and I just think everything pointed to this year.
This was never about anybody else. This was always about Joe’s story, and this was always about Joe’s list. It was his legacy, and we were just the people that got it done for him. I think if he had lived, he would’ve done it himself.
➡️ Listen to the full conversation on The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms:
This week in Charlotte: JCSU president to retire; City council considers 4-year terms; 3 workers die in scaffolding collapse; Aldersgate nixes plan for new retirement community
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
JCSU president to retire: (JCSU) Johnson C. Smith University President Clarence D. Armbrister announced on Tuesday that he’ll retire in June after 5 years in the position. Ambrister will stay on as senior advisor to the new president until early 2024, and the university’s Board of Trustees will soon start looking for his successor.
Movement Schools expansion: (WFAE) Movement Schools, a Charlotte-based charter school chain that first opened in 2017 on Freedom Drive, is seeking state approval to open three more North Carolina locations in 2024, including its first outside Charlotte.
First female UNC president dies: (AP) Molly Broad, who became the first female president of the University of North Carolina system in 1997, passed away at age 81.
Politics
City Council considers 4-year terms: (WFAE) The Charlotte City Council will soon ask voters to approve moving council members’ terms from two years to four years and adding a new district representative.
DA finds ‘no basis’ to prosecute Mitchell: (WFAE) Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather determined that Charlotte City Council member James Mitchell likely does not still have an ownership stake in R.J. Leeper Construction, which does business with the city, and therefore, is not subject to prosecution.
Bishop’s role in House speaker election: (WRAL) Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop of Charlotte was one of about 20 Republicans voting against Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to become speaker of the House, but Bishop switched to supporting McCarthy after saying he received assurances about the party’s strategy and policies. McCarthy was elected speaker on the 15th ballot early Saturday.
Local news
Workers killed in scaffolding accident: (WSOC, Ledger) Friends and family of the three construction workers who died in a scaffolding accident Monday morning on Morehead Street have identified the men as José Bonilla Canaca of Honduras, Gilberto Monico Fernández of Mexico and Jesús Olivares of Mexico.
Cotswold Chick-fil-A drive-thru plan advances: (WBTV) The city of Charlotte’s zoning committee voted 7-0 last week to recommend the City Council approve a rezoning request that would allow the Cotswold Chick-fil-A to expand its drive-thru.
New focus for Latta Plantation: (Observer) Mecklenburg County is revamping educational programs at Latta Place (formerly Latta Plantation) to focus more squarely on the role of slavery, following a 2021 controversy over a program that critics said was too sympathetic toward slaveholders.
Business
Aldersgate ends plans for retirement community at Shalom Park (Ledger 🔒) Aldersgate Life Plan Services says that it will not be moving forward with plans for Generations at Shalom Park, a senior living community on the Shalom Park campus in the SouthPark area, due to high interest rates, significant inflation, increased construction costs and a sporadic workforce environment.
Health insurance change: (Observer) The North Carolina Treasurer’s Office announced Wednesday that BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina will no longer be the health insurance provider for state teachers and employees starting in 2025 and will switch to Aetna insurance.
Sports
No Fuchs: Charlotte FC captain Christian Fuchs announced his retirement from pro soccer on Thursday after a 19-year career on seven professional teams.
Olsen, Kalil start podcast company with Vince Vaughn: (Biz Journal, subscriber-only; first reported in trade press) Former Carolina Panthers Greg Olsen and Ryan Kalil have teamed up with actor Vince Vaughn to start a podcast and video company called Audiorama.
Good reads
The transformation of High Point University: (The Assembly) High Point University has been overhauled in the last 15 years from a small, struggling liberal arts school into an upscale, growing “Disney-esque mini city with fountains and heated swimming pools, a high-end steak house and a concierge service,” according to a feature on the school and its president in The Assembly, a statewide digital magazine. Some see the university’s approach as refreshingly innovative, while others bristle at the extent of its “customer is king” ethos that caters mostly to wealthy families.
Throw a dart, tell a story: (Charlotte magazine) In 2022, Ledger managing editor Cristina Bolling wrote a monthly feature in Charlotte magazine called “You Are Here,” short vignettes on different spots in Charlotte based on throwing a dart at a map. The magazine published all 12 online last month, with eye-opening, slice-of-life looks at a disc golf course in Steele Creek, a community garden in east Charlotte, a kennel club in southwest Charlotte and a historic Mint Hill church — and more.
Inside Duke Energy’s holiday blackouts: (Ledger 🔒) Duke Energy executives provided new details of what happened the week before Christmas that caused 300,000 Duke customers to lose power and what led to the company’s unprecedented decision to shut off power to 500,000 customers.
20 years of Common Market: (Queen City Nerve) Retired musician Blake Barnes, founder of Common Market in Plaza-Midwood, says he started the shop 20 years ago with little more than tobacco and Pabst Blue Ribbon and that he has built it over the years by listening to his ever-changing customers: “I started blue collar, then I moved into the gutter punk, then I moved into more of an artsy fartsy type thing, and then it moved back into the bicycle crowd, and now it’s definitely moved more millennial professionals,” Barnes told Queen City Nerve in an entertaining Q&A.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Wednesday (🔒)
Sinking stocks: Major stock market indexes fell in 2022, and so did most local stocks, led by LendingTree (down 83%). The stock prices of Charlotte’s big banks were also down double digits last year.
Friday (🔒)
Airport parking woes: The Ledger reviewed over 700 comment forms submitted by passengers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport about the airport’s parking reservation system, and the forms revealed common frustrations.
Economic panel: The Ledger teamed up with Davidson College and U.S. Bank to hold an hour-long online discussion with four economic experts on Wednesday about where the economy is headed in 2023.
You ask, we answer: What’s the latest with the Cone Mill property in Pineville? Travis Morgan, planning director for the town of Pineville, said the town is working through the details of past public meetings to determine the best use for the site and a suitable partner for the development, which is currently leaning toward a mixed-use development.
Sayonara, Ru San’s sushi lunch buffet: Dilworth sushi restaurant Ru San’s stopped offering its $11.75 all-you-can-eat sushi lunch buffet during Covid, and the restaurant has no plans to bring it back.
CMS school boundary signs: Families with homes in the Sharon Elementary attendance zone have been putting signs in their yards that say “Keep Sharon at MPHS,” asking Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders to keep their students zoned for Myers Park High School.
Report says CATS needs an overhaul: A consultant with Management Partners determined that the Charlotte Area Transit System has unclear goals, departments that compete instead of cooperate, and a lack of transparency about its budget. Interim CATS CEO Brent Cagle said that given CATS’s organizational size, “it’s a bit unmanageable.”
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project