CHARLOTTE, N.C., November 16 — The Carolinas and beyond rallied behind R4R: The Greg Olsen Foundation in a big way this year by contributing their time and money to different types of fundraising events.

Due in large part because of the community’s support, R4R granted $750,000 to The HEARTest Yard fund at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital.

“I’m beyond grateful that we could make this extraordinarily generous contribution to Levine Children’s Hospital. Much of it will go to establishing the cardiac neurodevelopmental center, which certainly marks the future of quality healthcare for our children,” Greg Olsen said.

An additional $20,000 was granted to Atrium Health’s Go Pink campaign, which provides mammograms and preventative screenings for women.

“My mom’s now a long-time breast cancer survivor, and I’m just so thankful that she and so many women in our community can credit their survival to early screening and detection,” Olsen said.

Whether you attended the yoga event or the Kings of Leon concert, purchased a pink beanie, a Panthers one, or a baseball hat, ran the 5k, tweeted about the NFL Man of the Year Twitter Challenge, ate at one of the many eateries benefitting R4R, or did your own thing to support us… thank you.

To our fans who’ve become friends who are like family, we appreciate you. Our success is a testament to your continued generosity. Let’s “Keep Pounding” to benefit our community.

 

Greg Olsen is used to catching touchdown passes on television. One day, he could break down other people catching passes as an analyst.

Olsen, an All-Pro tight end with the Carolina Panthers and Wayne Hills alumnus, spoke about possibly going into broadcasting after he retires from the National Football League, the ongoing issue of players kneeling during the national anthem and what exactly constitutes a catch on ESPN’s morning radio show “Golic and Wingo” recently.

Olsen signed a two-year contract extension with the Panthers earlier this year. He talked about an interview he had with ESPN earlier this year about possibly becoming a color analyst on “Monday Night Football,” saying there was “a little bit of buzz” about him possibly making the move.

“It was great to be in consideration,” Olsen said. “It is a hard business [broadcasting] It’s easy for all ex-athletes to say ‘I’m going to get a job, but there are only so many of those jobs. You’d be lying to yourself if you could pick your time to leave the game and pick the job you’ll go into. There aren’t many guys who hold those keys. It’s a very difficult and competitive world to crack into.”

Olsen said earlier this year he would like to play for the Panthers for another three to five years.

Olsen talked about the ongoing issue of players kneeling during the national anthem before games.

The league decided in May that it would fine teams if players did not stand during the national anthem while on the field. The new rule prohibits players from sitting or taking a knee if they are on the field or sideline while the anthem is played. Players may stay in the locker room during the anthem if they would like.

“Right now the hard thing is there is no right or wrong answer,” Olsen said. “I think a lot of guys come to the conclusion that there’s only two scenarios: I’m going to take a knee because I believe in this process and unfortunately their voices aren’t being heard because they are being labeled as unpatriotic and unthankful and ungrateful and I don’t think that’s the objective of anybody.

“And on the other side, the people who do feel strongly about the anthem, all of a sudden they’re deemed to be patriots, but they’re also deemed to be insensitive and I don’t think that’s not what those guys want either.”

Olsen is a four-time team captain, three-time Pro Bowler and played in Super Bowl 50. He is the first tight end in NFL history to have three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He missed all but a few games last season with injuries.

“I remember as a rookie and second-year player, whether you had a chance to catch it or not, you were really opening yourself up to punishment and now you have that protection,” Olsen said, referencing the new rules protecting offensive players.

Olsen volunteers much of his time to charitable organizations in the Carolina area and has founded two nonprofits: Receptions for Research: The Greg Olsen Foundation in 2009 after his mother Sue survived breast cancer. The foundation’s Receiving Hope program focuses on cancer research, support and education.

In early 2013, Olsen and his wife Kara founded the HEARTest Yard Fund after a routine examination of their unborn son, T.J., showed he had a congenital defect.

Olsen was nominated the past two years for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. He lost to the Giants’ Eli Manning and Arizona Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald last season and the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt earlier this year.

Greg Olsen’s charity work was once again recognized this week.

The United Way of Central Carolinas presented the Panthers’ tight end with a check for $100,000 for finishing as the runner-up in the NFL’s annual Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

United Way presented the check to Olsen and all of the money will go toward Receptions for Research: The Greg Olsen Foundation. Last November, Olsen’s foundation partnered with Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte to create the region’s first cardiac neurodevelopmental program, with Olsen pledging $750,000 to kickstart the effort.

In January, Olsen and his wife Kara announced a personal donation of $15,000 to the hospital on top of the $10,000 donated by Nationwide Insurance for Olsen being the runner-up in a social media charity challenge.

For a doctor who loves caring for children’s hearts, what better day to begin a new chapter in her life than Valentine’s Day?

That’s the day pediatric cardiologist Nancy Dobrolet, MD, and her family visited Charlotte to begin looking for a new home. Starting in July, Dr. Dobrolet will become the first director of the new cardiac neurodevelopmental program at Levine Children’s Hospital.

Funded by The HEARTest Yard, part of the Greg Olsen Foundation, this program is designed to meet the behavioral and educational challenges that children born with congenital heart defects can face over their lifetimes. Greg Olsen, the star tight end for the Carolina Panthers, and his wife Kara founded The HEARTest Yard charity after their son T.J. was born with a life-threatening heart condition.

“The Olsens are the perfect family to work with,” Dr. Dobrolet says. “They are so in tune with their own child’s needs that they understand better than most people how much this program can accomplish.”

The Olsens feel fortunate a national leader in neurodevelopmental care has chosen LCH. “We are thrilled to have Dr. Dobrolet join us and oversee a program that is very close to our heart,” Greg and Kara say.” We are proud to be able to offer such a transformative cardiac program for the first time in our region.”
A team effort
Children dealing with heart defects often need to see multiple doctors to help them with difficulties in building self-esteem, keeping focus in class or socializing with peers.
Taking inspiration from Greg, Dr. Dobrolet says a football team is the perfect analogy for the new program.

“In this program, every doctor will play a part to improve a child’s quality of life,” says Dr. Dobrolet.

The neurodevelopmental program – one of the few of its kind in the country – will serve as a “one-stop shop” for these children, who will be cared for by Dr. Dobrolet and her team at Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute. Families will be able to see all of their specialists in one place, Dr. Dobrolet says, making it easier to arrange their child’s medical appointments – for example, with a speech therapist or nutritionist or developmental pediatrician.
Following a passion to help
Throughout her career, Dr. Dobrolet has sought better opportunities for kids in need. She has participated in medical missions to Venezuela and Peru, where she brought advanced heart care to children who didn’t have even the most basic services. Letters and pictures from grateful families now fill the walls of her office.

Dr. Dobrolet will come to LCH from University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. She and her family can’t wait to enjoy the milder climates of North Carolina. In her free time, along with her husband and 11-year-old daughter, Dr. Dobrolet loves long-distance biking and exploring the outdoors.

Once she settles in Charlotte, she’s also looking forward to becoming a Panthers fan. She’s already a huge admirer of The HEARTest Yard.

“It’s quite an opportunity to develop a program with such a generous benefactor as the Olsens and their foundation,” Dr. Dobrolet says. “I want to do the best job for the families in the Charlotte area that I possibly can – and not having to worry about the funding of our program is just amazing.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen and his wife, Kara Olsen, teamed up with Levine Children’s Hospital and announced on Tuesday the first cardiac neurodevelopment program in the Southeast to help children living with heart defects.

“We knew there was something bigger we could do,” Greg Olsen said.

The Olsens created their Heartest Yard Fund after their son was born with a congenital heart defect.

“The reality is, for a lot of these heart kids, their needs don’t end with their hearts,” he said.

The Heartest Yard Fund is now donating $750,000 to help Levine Children’s Hospital create the region’s first cardiac neurodevelopmental program.

“To have one comprehensive program that will identify all the needs — cognitive delays, speech delays, behavioral, social — all of these things important not only in the cardiac world but important in just raising your children,” Olsen said.

Sherry James is excited that it will soon be much easier for parents like her to seek help.

“I look forward to hearing the first few families say, ‘I knew something was wrong and these guys got behind us and supported us and now my kid is getting the help he needs to be successful,’” James said.

They plan to raise millions more to build the program.

Greg and Kara Olsen’s HEARTest Yard Fund has made a $750,000 donation to support pediatric heart patients.

Those funds will be used to create a cardiac neurodevelopmental program — set to be the most comprehensive of its kind — at Levine Children’s Hospital on the campus of Carolinas Medical Center.

“It was staying true with what we’ve always tried to do, which is improve the health of children,” Greg Olsen says.

That’s been a main focus for the Carolina Panthers’ tight end and his wife since their son, T.J., was born with hypoplastic-left heart syndrome in 2012.

That condition causes the left side of the heart to be severely underdeveloped.

The couple’s HEARTest Yard fund, part of The Greg Olsen Foundation, was initially founded to provide support for families of infants treated for severe or complex congenital heart disease.

Now, it looks to support those patients into adulthood by bringing together a team of medical professionals to provide access to services and care.

“We fund this because it really means a lot to us,” Olsen says. “I don’t know if we ever could have imagined how special or what a big part of our lives it would be.”

As T.J. has grown, it has opened the Olsens’ eyes to additional needs.

Today, he is an active 5-year-old attending school and playing on a baseball team. But he still requires daily medication, some speech therapy and regular doctor’s appointments as part of his journey, Olsen says.

“He’s doing as well as I could have ever hoped,” he adds.

Up to 50% of pediatric heart surgery patients experience issues that could impact language, fine motor skills or vision. Behavioral issues such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or learning disabilities are possible and could affect educational or job opportunities.

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“Research being done in this field is pretty startling,” Olsen says. “The spectrum of what these delays are varies significantly.”

It takes a comprehensive approach identify and address those issues earlier.

The program aims for early diagnosis, helping intervene at the appropriate time, with better coordinated care, while setting expectations for parents. Research will help develop evidence-based treatments as well.

The goal is to treat 300 patients annually, with plans to expand as needed.

“A program like this brings everybody together in the same place, same time. With one visit, patients will get everything done, find out what their issues are, and work on them,” says Dr. Paul Kirshbom, chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Levine Children’s Hospital and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Greg Olsen is one of the star players on the Carolina Panthers, but many in the Charlotte community know him for the work he does helping kids with heart defects after his own son was born with one.

The Greg Olsen Foundation announced Tuesday a partnership with Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Children’s Hospital to create the region’s first cardiac neurodevelopmental program.

“At The HEARTest Yard, we continually think bigger. The status quo is never enough because we have lives at stake,” Greg Olsen said. “While a few years ago we kicked off the program helping infants, our foundation is growing just like our heart babies. We’re dedicated to helping them over the course of their life. We see tremendous value in the expansion of The HEARTest Yard. That’s why we’ve already gifted $750,000 to kick start the funding for the cardiac neurodevelopmental program and we look forward to raising the millions more needed to establish and build this program into one of the nation’s best.”

The ups and downs as a family

Olsen’s son TJ was born with a rare heart condition, hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

“He doesn’t’t see himself as any different,” mom Kara Olsen said. “He’s proud of his scar.”

TJ has had three heart surgeries and early on doctors told his parents there was a lot of uncertainty about how he would do.

“It is hard and we really try to keep things in perspective,” Greg Olsen said. “The fact that TJ can hang out there and do what he’s doing at 5-years-old is really a miracle.”

Greg and Kara Olsen started The HEARTest Yard Foundation, helping other families like theirs by providing free in home healthcare. But Now that TJ is five, the Olsens realize their son has some new hurdles that are common among kids who have major heart issues early in life.

“What were seeing is people who have learning disabilities,” said Paul Kirshbom, MD, chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Levine Children’s Hospital and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute. “Some people have behavioral difficulties.”

The Olsens were told their son would never attend school and be at the same reading level with his peers.

“Those are things we had doctors tell us don’t be surprised if that’s not your reality.”

TJ Olsen has some speech issues. Kara Olsen takes him to regular therapy.

“In just five short years he’s already blown us away with what he’s been able to accomplish,” Kara Olsen said.

She continues to take TJ to a lot of other doctor appointments that come with being a kids with a heart issue.

“Time consuming to be honest and each doctor you have to fill in the backstory so there’s not someone who really understands TJ,” Kara Olsen said.

The HEARTest Yard is expanding

So that’s one reason why the Olsen’ are teaming up with Levine Children’s Hospital on a huge new project.

“It’s the largest project we’ve ever tackled, but for that it makes it that much more fulfilling,” said Greg Olsen.

They’re working to create a one-stop shopping facility where kids with heart issues can see all the doctors they need under one roof.

“The care for these kids at the end of the day, it’s very complicated,” Greg Olsen said. “(It) needs to be dealt with accordingly.”

The college sweethearts have already helped raise almost a million dollars for what will be a cardiac neurodevelopmental program at Levine’s, the first of its kind in the region.

“We’re so happy and proud,” Greg Olsen said.

And they say they are grateful TJ will get all the help he needs in one place.

“We just want to have him be a happy boy,” Greg Olsen said. “He’s the eternal optimist. He never stops trying.”

The Olsens say TJ’s twin sister is very proactive of him.

“She looks after him. She is something. God bless his future wife. She is full hands on deck, it’s really sweet.”

The Olsens are happy to report TJ is thriving. At a recent parent teacher conference the teacher called TJ a mathematician, and that made dad very proud.

“TJ has continued to thrive and were gonna continue to enjoy it as it comes,” Greg Olsen said.

Olsen set to return to the field against the Jets.

The announcement was made one day after the Panthers hammered the Dolphins in a 45-21 victory at Bank of America Stadium. Olsen is hopeful it was the last game he’ll have to sit on the sidelines after breaking his foot during the week two game against the Buffalo Bills.

“I’m doing good,” Olsen said. “A lot of progress. Hopefully this is the last game I’ll have to miss.”

The Panthers are now headed into a bye week and Olsen hopes to be back on the field playing against the Jets.

Olsen says sitting on the sidelines has been tough.

“It’s unchartered waters for me, been an adjustment,” Olsen said. “On game day (I feel) helpless. I don’t really do a whole lot. (I) run up and down the sidelines, give my two cents. That’s all I can do.”

CHARLOTTE – The Greg Olsen Foundation, in partnership with Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Children’s Hospital, announced Tuesday that The HEARTest Yard Fund has committed to support a cardiac neurodevelopment program, which will be the most comprehensive program of its kind in the Southeast.

“At The HEARTest Yard, we continually think bigger,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “The status quo is never enough because we have lives at stake. While a few years ago we kicked off the program helping infants, our foundation is growing just like our heart babies. We’re dedicated to helping them over the course of their life.”

Olsen and his wife, Kara, founded the The HEARTest Yard after their son T.J. was born with a severe congenital heart defect in 2012. The program provides families and infants treated for severe or complex congenital heart disease at Levine Children’s Hospital with unique services. Like T.J., patients will have access to in-home, private nursing care, physical therapy and speech therapy at no charge.

Beyond the physical challenges that pediatric heart surgery patients face, up to 50 percent may experience neurodevelopment deficits during their lifetime that are difficult to detect without the right tests and programs.

The HEARTest Yard program will bridge the gap to ensure families and patients have access to the right care, including early diagnosis, comprehensive evaluation, coordinated care and leading research.

“A program of this caliber would not be possible without the leadership and philanthropic support of The HEARTest Yard and the generosity of this community,” Carolinas HealthCare System chief executive officer Gene Woods said. “As Greg and Kara passionately understand, every child deserves to live a healthy life, carefree life. This remarkable gift will serve as a springboard to bring the highest level of comprehensive services to Levine Children’s Hospital.”

Said Olsen: “(T.J.’s) needs don’t end with his heart, and the reality is with a lot of these heart kids, their needs don’t end with their hearts. To be able to go to one facility and have one comprehensive program that will identify all the needs – the cognitive delays, speech delays, behavioral, social – all these huge things that are not only important in the cardiac world, but just important in raising your children. To be able to have the first program in this region here as a part of this hospital in our community, we’ve become obsessed with bringing this to life.”

It’s been about five years since Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen and his wife, Kara, started a fund to assist families of children born with heart defects at Levine Children’s Hospital. Since March, the Olsens have been quietly working to supersize that program.

On Tuesday, the Olsens announced the launch of a new program through Levine that will provide extended care to children born with congenital heart disease. The program is funded by the HEARTest Yard, which the Olsens founded in 2012 when their son T.J. was born with a heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

“This cause and this hospital, and these heart families, they mean a lot to us. We know what it’s like to be in their shoes. We’re very fortunate that we had access to a lot of things that maybe not everybody did,” Olsen said Tuesday at Levine.

T.J.’s condition required three heart surgeries, so the Olsens hired a live-in nurse – a perk that’s not easily available to everyone. The care after that is ongoing, Olsen said, and includes the kind of outpatient services that the new program will fund, such as physical therapy and speech therapy.

Think of the new program as an extension of the care families get through the HEARTest Yard, which provides about $25,000 to $30,000 worth of in-home nursing care – free of charge and regardless of insurance status – to families in the critical months between their child’s first and second surgeries.

Building the outpatient portion of the program will require more staff, said Rene Herlong, chief of pediatric cardiology at the Sanger Clinic, part of Carolinas HealthCare System.

That means hiring about a dozen new medical professionals, including a medical director, occupational therapists, speech therapists, educational specialists, neuropsychologists and psychometricians, or “the folks who give these comprehensive tests,” Herlong said.

Herlong added that he’s been hoping to get this kind of cardiac neurodevelopmental program off the ground since he got to Carolinas HealthCare System, about 10 years ago.

“It was going to take people who have experienced it themselves and who have the ability to fundraise, because it’s very expensive,” Herlong said.

The Olsens are kicking off the new program with an initial $750,000 donation of their own.

To date, the HEARTest Yard has raised over $2 million for Levine through grassroots efforts and events that Olsen almost always attends himself, including yoga classes at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, 5k road races and an XBox NFL Challenge last year.

The fate of the Affordable Care Act adds a new layer of uncertainty concerning insurance for parents. But Olsen said the goal of the new program is the same as his charity’s was five years ago: to ensure that kids who come to Levine can get care, no matter what the political climate.

“Dating back even five years ago … we took the insurance companies out of the equation. We took family resources out of the equation,” Olsen said.

“(No matter if they are) rich or poor, whether they’re being treated at Levine or not, they will be eligible. We didn’t want to pick and choose people on a case-by-case basis.”

According to Levine, up to 50 percent of kids born with heart defects may have neurodevelopmental deficits during their lifetimes, including behavioral issues such as depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The new program will provide services to identify and treat those conditions.

The program will operate out of the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in Charlotte, where the Olsens bring T.J. for regular checkups with his cardiologist. But the goal ultimately is to operate as a full brick-and-mortar clinic as the program grows, within three to five years, Olsen said.

“Our program was never about our son, it was never something he benefited from. This was always about doing what other people did for us,” Olsen said.

Outside his nonprofit endeavors, the three-time Pro Bowler has kept busy this season. Olsen has been rehabbing since breaking a bone in his right foot against the Buffalo Bills Sept. 17. He will also be a guest analyst on Fox with Kevin Burkhardt and Charles Davis for the Rams-Vikings game in Minnesota on Sunday.