David Hare

Hare’s mother was diagnosed with the disease just after his family moved from England to Chapel Hill when he was 10 years old. Thanks to prompt treatment at Lineberger, Hare’s mother is cancer-free almost a decade later.

And Hare, now a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill, has discovered a passion and skill for raising money and volunteering that he hopes to parlay into a career after leaving college. He’s well on his way, having received the 2010 Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award from the Triangle Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals for the work of Cycle20Ten.

Hare's love of philanthropy began through Boy Scouting, which he joined in England and continued when he moved to the U.S. in 2001. In 2007, when he was 15 years old, his assistant scout master, Brian Burnham, invited Hare to join him, one other adult, and six high-school kids on a cross-country bicycle ride called Washington or Bust, or WABU.

Hare agreed, but wanted the ride to have a higher purpose by raising money for Lineberger. "I always wanted to do something to thank them and give something back," Hare says of Lineberger's treatment of his mother's cancer. "They managed to fix it and minimize what it could have been..."

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