This week’s Hometown Heroes are Niklaus and Lucy Steiner, who founded the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation in honor of their daughter, Sophie.

“Be Loud! Sophie was founded to honor the life of our daughter Sophie who was diagnosed with cancer when she was a freshman at East Chapel Hill High School. After she died, we wanted to honor her life and wanted to honor her wishes which, while she was at UNC Hospitals where she got extraordinary care from the doctors and nurses and folks there, she did notice that there was a sort of missing element for her particular age group. She was in a wing of the children’s hospital in particular that had a not of pretty childish elements to it. Her 15-year old self was not always pleased to be surrounded by pink elephants and purple turtles and things. She was committed and interested in the idea of how to better help teenagers. That was what we felt she cared about.”

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