The Carve 4 Cancer Winter Festival by the Live Like Brent Foundation returns to Montage Mountain Saturday, Feb 4. The proceeds go to funding blood cancer patients in their time of need.
Each year, this snow-centric festival brings NEPA out onto the mountain for a good cause while enjoying live music, art demos, snow competitions, and more. This is the 11th year for the event. Attendees can expect fun both on and off the slopes when Carve 4 Cancer starts at 10:00 a.m. with live music from Butter n’ Onions at the C4C Main Stage to kick off the day. There will be on-stage entertainment throughout the day, with the last band playing at 5:00 p.m.
The epic snowboarding event to shred cancer was dreamed up by Brent P. Evans in 2010, while he himself was being treated for IV non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Evans grew up in Wilkes-Barre and made a positive impression on people wherever he went. Sadly, Evans passed away in 2017 but the event and foundation he started lives on in his name to continue helping others with blood cancer.
“Brent recognized that not everyone had the network of people he had and knew there was a way to raise awareness and funds for patients who needed it,” said Jeff Mattes, Executive Director for the Live Like Brent Foundation.
The day will be a ton of fun for a good cause, from good food to good entertainment. In addition to the live music, everybody is welcome to watch the Rail Jam and Banked Slalom snowboarding/skiing competitions, which will be right down on the base of the mountain. For those staying off the slopes there will also be a heated tent, drink specials, vendor village, axe-throwing, fire pits, raffles, giveaways, and more.
Carve 4 Cancer is a 100% volunteer event and Live Like Brent is a 100% volunteer organization. Throughout the day, all the money generated by the event goes directly to the patients affected. Each beer, treat, or ticket you purchase will go to helping cancer patients with bills, rent, utilities, whatever it is they need right away.
“It’s a great way of giving back to the local hospitals,” explained Mattes. “We set up Live Like Brent comfort funds at six different hospitals. The social workers that determine who needs help can write a check right out of the comfort funds without a lot of red tape.”
Mattes, like many others in the organization, got involved with Live Like Brent because he met Brent himself when his company in Philadelphia used to donate food to his cause. “I was fortunate enough to meet Brent. He was just such a dynamic gentleman that it was so easy to support him in his mission,” said Mattes. “He had thousands of friends — that’s how much he was liked!”
Jeff Mattes attended Kings’ College so Wilkes-Barre is warm to his heart and he looks forward to Carve 4 Cancer each year. “It’s great to be able to give back to the community and help Brent’s dream of helping as many cancer patients as we can,” said Mattes.
Brett’s family still lives in the area and have been instrumental in ensuring Carve 4 Cancer and the LLBF can continue helping blood cancer patients who need it most. Brent, his family, and LLBF have been a beacon of hope for so many.
Live Like Brent Foundation also has other events coming up in 2023 as well. They will host Penn Relays 5K in Philadelphia as well as golf outings in the Poconos every October. At West Virginia University, where Brent went to school, they host a tailgate every year where they get people from all over the country who remember Brent to donate to the West Virginia Cancer Institute.
Rock 107 will at Carve 4 Cancer broadcasting all day. The event’s other big sponsors in the local area are Geisinger, St. Luke’s Cancer Center, USHydrations, The Ski Shack, Tröegs, and King’s College. National sponsors are Milwaukee, Tito’s, and Monster Energy who will also hand out samples.
Mattes said their goal with the Live Like Brent Foundation is to create a national brand so they can have hospitals in every state.