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In this episode of What's Up, Wake, host Melissa sits down with former NFL star and NC State legend Torry Holt and the executive director of the Holt Brothers Foundation, Liz McLean. They discuss Torry's transition from football to community work and the impactful projects of the Holt Brothers Foundation, with a particular focus on supporting children whose parent or guardian has been diagnosed with cancer. Torry shares emotional insights about his personal journey, the importance of education, and the legacy of his mother. Learn how this foundation is bringing hope and making a difference in the lives of many families.
00:00 Introduction to What's Up, Wake
00:43 Interview with NC State Legend Torry Holt
06:09 Torry Holt's Community Work and Foundation
08:06 Supporting Children Through Cancer
19:26 Introduction to the Foundation's Components
21:34 Kids Can Program and New Initiatives
21:59 The Impact of 'A Kids Book About Cancer'
24:09 How to Support the Foundation
25:32 Navigating Conversations About Cancer
28:04 Personal Reflections and Advice
29:41 Getting Involved with the Holt Brothers Foundation
32:45 Family Values and Legacy
36:16 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Creators and Guests
What is What’s Up, Wake?
What’s Up, Wake covers the people, places, restaurants, and events of Wake County, North Carolina. Through conversations with local personalities from business owners to town staff and influencers to volunteers, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Wake County an outstanding place to live. Presented by Cherokee Media Group, the publishers of local lifestyle magazines Cary Magazine, Wake Living, and Main & Broad, What’s Up, Wake covers news and happenings in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Wake Forest.
42 Whats Up Wake - Torry Holt
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What up Wake is presented by Ting Internet now available in Holly Springs and Wake Forest.
Hi there and welcome to What's Up Wake Spend Your Day is the only way. Take a break. With what Up Wake. What Up? Wake presented by the publishers of Kerry Magazine, wake Living and Maine, and Broad. What's up? Wake covers the people, places, restaurants, and events. Essentially, all the cool stuff and great news of Wake County.
I'm your host, Melissa Woff. Join me as we find out what's up, wake.
[00:00:43] Melissa: Welcome to the greatest show on Turf from Lighting up the scoreboard at Carter Finley Stadium During his years at NC State to shining under the bright lights in the NFL. Tory Holt has built a career thrilling fans these days. He's traded cleats for hard hats and touchdowns for community work proving that building legacies isn't just about yards gained, but life's changed.
I'll admit that I might fumble this conversation. Mm-hmm. If it was solely based on my football knowledge. But I personally came to know the Holt brothers for all the good they've done post football, making this interview my number one draft pick for what's up. Wake. It's no coincidence that we're dropping this episode on giving Tuesday a day in which we're all called to put our holiday shopping aside and put some goodness out into the world.
I couldn't think of a better person that has given back to our community than my guest today. Please welcome NC State Legend St. Louis Rams Phenom.
[00:01:44] Torry Holt: Keep going.
[00:01:45] Melissa: Co-owner of Holt Brothers Construction.
[00:01:48] Torry Holt: Keep
[00:01:48] Melissa: going, and co-founder of Holt Brothers Foundation, big game. Tori Holt. And Tori brought along his plus one, the incredible executive director of Holt Brothers Foundation, l Liz McLean.
Welcome both of you. Thanks
[00:02:03] Liz McLean: for
[00:02:03] Melissa: having, having you.
[00:02:04] Torry Holt: Thank you.
[00:02:04] Melissa: I was telling you as you came in that this was the one episode that my husband invited himself to come see. Of course, he went to NC State when you were playing at NC State, so we, we I, but I, I told him no,
[00:02:16] Liz McLean: that's right.
[00:02:17] Melissa: Mm-hmm. Sorry, bud.
Punish him maybe next time. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Tori, I might get kicked off my team if I don't start this interview a little bit about football, even though it's not my forte. as a lifelong NC State fan, what would you consider to be the most steadfast, loyal, loud, and very serious fans?
Wolf Pack or Rams?
[00:02:45] Torry Holt: Wool pack, hands down.
[00:02:46] Melissa: Gotta be
[00:02:47] Torry Holt: the, the atmosphere here is electric and it's, we have Duke, we have Carolina, we have wake forests. Mm-hmm. We have so many schools. Tobacco
[00:02:55] Melissa: Road.
[00:02:55] Torry Holt: Yeah. Tobacco Road. And the fandom for athletics here in the Carolinas, particularly here in Raleigh, is unbelievable.
So yes, I will give that nod to NC State. Now, St. Louis was awesome.
[00:03:06] Melissa: Mm-hmm.
[00:03:07] Torry Holt: They revere their sports figures. They no ball. Same as the folks here in the South, same as the folks here in NC State, but I gotta get that nod to the pac.
[00:03:16] Melissa: Yeah, and I would say that there's probably nothing like, I mean, I can only imagine in any way, but running out of the tunnel of NC State for an a CCC matchup on a Saturday night.
Versus any, probably any stadium in the country. Yeah. It, it is just got to be so unique and so magical
[00:03:37] Torry Holt: Electric.
[00:03:38] Melissa: Mm.
[00:03:38] Torry Holt: See a red, I, I think back to my days at NC State when we played Syracuse on a Thursday night, and that was Donovan McNabb, who was a Heisman Trophy candidate. They came in here, we bust that butt and and got that win.
And the, the night was just insane. Mm. From, from. From tailgating to the end of that ball game was just the best I've ever seen. And all of our night games, even this past homecoming game against Georgia Tech.
[00:04:06] Melissa: Yeah,
[00:04:08] Torry Holt: that team, that's the team that everybody wants to see every single weekend.
[00:04:12] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:04:12] Torry Holt: But that was a night game.
And we have in the past have just risen to a whole nother level in those night games. We have the light show. The fans are crazy. They're there is packed. It's loud.
[00:04:22] Melissa: The fans are been tailgating all day,
[00:04:23] Torry Holt: tailgating all day. It is on tv, which is a primetime game, and we the woo pack in history. History has shown those games.
We have stepped up.
[00:04:33] Melissa: Yeah, they're gonna have to start, volleying to have every game be a nighttime game for NC State at this point.
[00:04:40] Torry Holt: I'm sure the coaches, the, I'm sure the coaches will love or to be their way. Yeah. If they gonna, if they're gonna play the way that they played against Georgia Tech consistently every night.
Mm-hmm. And, and is that night, they will sign up for that right now if they could.
[00:04:52] Melissa: And now we're getting into basketball season. I'm a basketball fan, have been for a long time, so I'm, I'm hoping that this new team that has been put together is going to be. Great. I hope.
[00:05:04] Torry Holt: Yeah.
[00:05:05] Melissa: You were saying you went to the, the, the opening game Yeah.
Against NC Central.
[00:05:10] Torry Holt: Yeah. Mm-hmm. And it was it was, it was, um, it was a big time response from the fans.
[00:05:17] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:05:17] Torry Holt: When Will Wade walked onto that court?
[00:05:20] Melissa: Yes.
[00:05:20] Torry Holt: Yeah. That was just like
[00:05:21] Melissa: everybody's putting a lot of hope onto his back.
[00:05:24] Torry Holt: They are, but you know, I've spoken to. Um, guys in the coaching ranks that know Coach Wade mm-hmm.
Or have seen him from afar and they've echoed to me, they've said to me, this guy's gonna win. Like he has a winning spirit about him. And then talking to Chucky Brown and talking to some of the players that I've had an opportunity to talk to. They like him. They, he pushes them. Mm-hmm. He challenges them but at the same time, he stands up and he loves his guys.
And you're seeing it, you're seeing it early in the season that they are going out and they're playing for that name on the front. I think that's something that he's reiterating, but they're also playing for their coach too. I think they love making sure that they you know, play at the level that he expects of them.
And right now we're seeing that. So hope the goal is for it to continue.
[00:06:05] Melissa: Fingers crossed.
[00:06:05] Torry Holt: Yes.
[00:06:06] Melissa: Big time. Fingers crossed. Okay. Fast forward the end of your NFL career. How did you and Terrance decide? To not only start a construction business mm-hmm. But a foundation. How did this all come to be and back in Raleigh?
Yeah. Find you.
[00:06:24] Torry Holt: So the foundation, thankfully we were celebrating 25 years, um, of our foundation. And while we were playing, you know, our foundation was here in Raleigh. And
[00:06:34] Melissa: So you had already started it while you were in the NFL?
[00:06:36] Torry Holt: Correct. So I started my, I started in 2000, the year after we won the Super Bowl.
My brother said it said it nicely. It, it was, it was, our foundation was found out of tragic. We lost our mom to, to cancer. Mm-hmm. To lymphoma in 1996. And when I, once I got drafted to the National Football League, I wanted to do something in honor of her name to continue her legacy. Mm-hmm. And to help young kids with a parent or guardian or primary caregiver with a cancer diagnosis.
And 25 years later, we're still doing that. We're still impacting the community right here in Raleigh and as well as in St. Louis and now in Los Angeles. So. Um, we still got more work to do, but we are super excited and proud to be 25 years in impacting our community where we live, where we work, our businesses here, our kids go to school here.
[00:07:20] Melissa: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:20] Torry Holt: We go to church. Everything happens right here. This is
[00:07:23] Melissa: home. This is home. Mm-hmm.
[00:07:24] Torry Holt: So, um, it's no greater feeling. I've, I've caught Super Bowls. I mean, I've caught touchdowns in Super Bowls. I've won Super Bowls. I've had kids, I've gotten married. Um, and those are all, um, signature moments for, for my life.
But this here too, hope Brothers Foundation is like our baby. This is, this is like,
[00:07:41] Melissa: it's given you meaning,
[00:07:42] Torry Holt: it's given us a lot of meaning. They given us a lot of purpose and we've been able to help and benefit and encourage a lot of families that are going through. A tragic moment like cancer and, and once cancer penetrates the home, it's a whole different dynamic and Hope Brothers Foundation and our resources that we, and who we work with, we try to provide some comfort to be able to deal with that.
Significant impact, you know, as best as you can.
[00:08:06] Melissa: Liz, can you talk a little bit about the mission of Holt brothers and, and touch on the things that you do because you, you really primarily focus on the children of the family and it's children who has a parent that has been diagnosed with cancer.
[00:08:21] Liz McLean: Yes. And so that's primarily school age kids.
Okay. Troy mentioned folks here. Mm-hmm. Um, I'd say Wake County and Central Eastern, North Carolina. Um, just based on oncology care here. So, um, Tori mentioned our mission is to show up to support these kids. We like to say that we don't want cancer to win, and cancer can take so much from, um, from time, from priorities from.
Financial resources within a family. Mm-hmm. And we wanna show up and say, Hey, we see you going through this. Um, but we know that parents and patients are getting a lot of resources when they're showing up for treatment. Um, but their kids aren't getting the same resources. Mm-hmm. And their kids are also having an experience.
It may not be the same physical experience, their parent is half a vein. Um, but they've got big feelings about, yeah. Mom or dad having a cancer diagnosis. Um. That could be as little as, hey, the person that used to pick me up from school every day can't do that anymore for this time period, um, because of their treatment.
But those shifts in their life are so large and monumental. Um, but in addition to showing up and helping resource them with. Language and education to walk through that experience. I think it's really important, um, that Tori and Terrance also remember they were still able to have fun as kids. Yeah. They still have amazing memories growing up.
People still made time to make that happen. We wanna make sure that we can still make a point, um, to have some joy and some laughter with these families as well. So we're, we're holding both.
[00:09:51] Melissa: I've mentioned before on this podcast, I myself am a cancer survivor. I had breast cancer a few years ago. Mm-hmm.
Um, two years ago. So, and I have three children. My youngest was 10, my oldest was 15. Yes, absolutely. It's a tricky situation to navigate because the cancer patient is going through so many emotions, um, that come with the diagnosis, but.
To, to walk your children through it at the same time. It just adds such a different level and layer of, of, of difficulty. So what I want to know is what, first of all, I would think that you would have to based what you're doing for these children based on age. Mm-hmm. My kids were a little bit older, so they were able to.
I was able to talk to them in a more mature way. Right. Versus if they were younger and having to, you know, meet that level. How do you guys meet needs based on age groups and based on needs too? Because I was blessed. I did not, um. I did not need like terrible treatment. I say terrible treatment. Yeah, it sucked.
[00:11:02] Liz McLean: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:11:04] Melissa: But I, I didn't need chemo. I did not need a mastectomy. So you, it, it could be so many different layers, right? But how, how do you navigate the whole situation with different. Age groups?
[00:11:16] Liz McLean: Yeah, so number one is through partnerships. Um, so locally we have existing partnerships with the Duke Cancer Center.
So that looks like in Wake County, duke, Raleigh Hospital, as well as the Duke Cancer Center's, um, oncology offerings, um, and UNC Rex located just down the street. Mm-hmm. And then hopes that we've started early conversations with WakeMed, who's now four years into good fingers crossed oncology care.
Um, and so we're really looking to be able to grow. Hospital partnership and what that looks like is a peer empathy program, a place where kids get to come and they get to be around other kids mm-hmm. Who also have a parent or primary caregiver with a cancer diagnosis and they're learning in age appropriate ways.
So to your, your question Absolutely. Um, we let each of those hospital programs, they're our partner, but they know best what works for their patient. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And their. Their culture of their hospital. So, um, they each do it a little different way, but they, they group the kids by ages, so primarily elementary school age kids, middle schoolers and high schoolers.
Because what the high schoolers need is a little bit more of the emotional component. Mm-hmm. They have bigger fears. What a little kid needs is a little bit more education. They wanna touch the things and they wanna see the radiation rooms and they wanna see an infusion chair. And so they're looking for someone to paint a picture that's different than the picture they've perhaps made up in their mind.
Versus the older kids may have access to the internet and have talked to friends. They've, they've seen a little bit more.
[00:12:44] Melissa: Yeah. They can see that this could end badly.
[00:12:46] Liz McLean: Correct. Mm-hmm. And so they need heavier emotional support.
[00:12:50] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:12:50] Liz McLean: Um, and the little kids need a little bit more, um. Just basic education. I always tell somebody, imagine explaining to a, a kindergartner who's never walked into a hospital before.
You're using lasers mm-hmm. To cure something.
[00:13:04] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:13:04] Liz McLean: Yep. Um, what they know about being sick is, I'm contagious. I can't go to school. Yeah. I'll, I'll share that to other people. Yeah. Um, but that's not how cancer is. Or when I'm sick, I go to the doctor and I get medicine. It makes me feel better. Well. All of our cancer treatments eventually will heal you.
Yeah. But they won't make you feel great in the moment. Certainly you them. Right. And so that's flipping all these narratives upside down in a young mind. And so younger kids need a little bit more of the like, tactile. Mm-hmm. Um, together.
[00:13:36] Torry Holt: And what, and what Terrance and I, we love when we go spend time with these families.
At the hospitals because they have meetings, um, whether they're going through chemo labs or, I mean, like talking about chemo or going through the radiation labs. Mm-hmm. What we like to go, what, what we like about it is we are able to, we're so cool enough still where we are able to dumb our, you know, dumb it down and be able to talk to kids on all levels, the six year olds, the eight year olds, the 10 year olds, the 12 year olds, the 14 year olds, 6-year-old, et cetera.
We're able to go down to that level and then have real conversations with them about what cancer is because they now have heard it. So it's not like you have to go in and you have to mince your words. We can have full conversation about how they feel and how their parents are feeling and how the whole dynamic of the home has changed because we once lived it.
So that's where our Terence always says, talks about superpower. That's where our superpower is with our foundation. Mm-hmm. Is that we actually lived it and we are very, um. Forthcoming in terms of what our experience was like to better try to help that child or that parent be able to cope with it.
[00:14:36] Melissa: And kids want you to talk to them.
[00:14:39] Liz McLean: Absolutely.
[00:14:40] Melissa: Um, not in a dumb down way.
[00:14:42] Torry Holt: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:14:42] Melissa: They, they want straight, straight up facts. Absolutely. Just, you know, and, and I, I do know that it gets tricky based on age and everything, but no matter the age, they, they wanna know the truth.
[00:14:52] Torry Holt: Yep.
[00:14:52] Melissa: Yep. Mm-hmm.
[00:14:53] Torry Holt: And we try to, and we try to provide that. Yeah. And, and, and, and not only us, the, the, the folks, the, the oncologists, the folks at the hospital that are working with them are very.
Honest and upfront with them. Mm-hmm. So the partnership, as, as Liz mentioned, is, is a, is a good partnership. I think their strengths are, are not our strengths. Our strengths are maybe not their, but com Collectively, yeah, we work beautifully together. To provide more important, the, the goal is to provide those families a safe place, somewhere that they can go and feel seen.
And also feel supported that they can kids, kids can, kids can accomplish anything that they want to accomplish. Though their parent or primary caregiver has a cancer diagnosis, we're helping along with our partners to provide those tools for them.
[00:15:33] Melissa: Let's, let's go back to when your mom was diagnosed. How old were you and Terrance?
[00:15:41] Torry Holt: Yeah, we were, let's see, my, I was 10 years old. Terrance was, okay. Was six. My sister was 14, so we were young.
[00:15:47] Melissa: Okay.
[00:15:47] Torry Holt: We was mad young and
[00:15:48] Melissa: yeah,
[00:15:48] Torry Holt: we didn't have a program like kids can, we didn't have a foundation in existence anywhere in our neighborhood. That took us in and helped us, you know, to be able to better cope with it.
So a lot of our anxieties and fears and frustration we had to suppress.
[00:16:03] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:16:03] Torry Holt: And had to deal with it along. Or my brother and I and our sister, we would talk about it, but we didn't really know much about what we were talking
[00:16:09] Melissa: about. And I feel like things used to be different too. Like we've come a long way in terms of, of mental health and emotional wellbeing and, and more, we're more in tune that.
That we need to foster, um, the mental health side of children. Yeah. As well. Like back when we were kids, it was just kind of like. Y'all just hush and be quiet and
[00:16:31] Torry Holt: Yep. And you and you did what you were told
[00:16:32] Melissa: you. Yes.
[00:16:33] Torry Holt: And they were, and their, and not,
[00:16:34] Melissa: and you don't wanna talk about, your parents didn't want you to talk about things publicly.
Yep. You know? Yep. Yeah. You kind of keep things private,
[00:16:39] Torry Holt: kept things private. Mm-hmm. You couldn't take it outside the home.
[00:16:42] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:16:42] Torry Holt: And our, our, our grandmother and our pops and uncles, they were trying to protect us by not telling us.
[00:16:49] Melissa: Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:50] Torry Holt: But it left us kind of in the dark, like mm-hmm. Like, what's really going on.
But as we got older, you know, you learn more about the stories and what and why they were doing it, and I understand that. But
[00:16:58] Melissa: yeah.
[00:16:58] Torry Holt: At the same time. Who knows how. And Terrence and I and my sister, we always say this, who knows how we would've been as kids? We would've been better kids. We would've, I don't know what, I don't know what, not that we were bad kids, but I don't know.
We don't know how we would've dealt with it being that we would've had the education that
[00:17:14] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:17:15] Torry Holt: Would provided
[00:17:15] Melissa: these
[00:17:15] Default_2025-11-12_2: kids
[00:17:16] Melissa: how your journey would've been.
[00:17:16] Torry Holt: How our journey would've been. Exactly. So, um, so yeah. It's, it's, it's, it's, it was, it was challenging, but we had a loving family.
[00:17:23] Melissa: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:24] Torry Holt: Um, that will come and support and take care of mom.
Um, and, you know, they allowed us to go to school and play sports. So I mentioned anxieties and fears that I was dealing with. Luckily I had sports. I had an outlet. Yeah, a lot of these, some of these kids that we talked to and we're dealing with don't have any outlets.
[00:17:39] Melissa: That's huge. Yeah.
[00:17:40] Torry Holt: So we encouraged them to find outlets, whether this reading, whether this drawing with this art, with this music, with this sports.
Try to find an outlet so you can go somewhere where you can deal with those emotions. Fortunately, we had sports, so
[00:17:51] Melissa: yeah,
[00:17:51] Torry Holt: we busted a lot of people's butts on Friday nights because of some of those fears and anxieties that we were dealing with. 'cause of how you brought it
[00:17:59] Melissa: onto the field? Yeah,
[00:18:00] Torry Holt: we took it onto the field.
Mm-hmm. And we had that, that adrenaline, that frustration had to go somewhere. Fortunately, we had a, we had competition to be able to get that out of us.
[00:18:09] Liz McLean: And the thing that's really great about those partnerships and those hospital programs, not only are they gearing the information in age appropriate ways, but they're putting to kids together.
Mm-hmm. In those age, own, age groups. Mm-hmm. So they're no longer going where at school or on the soccer field. They may be the only child they know that has a parent with cancer when they walk into one of our kids can events at one of our hospital partners. They know that they're not the only kid. Every kid has those same things.
So it gives a little bit more space for those other things about their personality, those other interests to surface, because that's now not the marker that they've walked into that space with. And those partnerships though, that work is done by trained child life. Um, specialists who are amazing at what they do, um, many of which have been doing this work in oncology care for a long time.
And it's a growing field because I think people are seeing that this is an important component, um, to their care. Thinking about a patient's care holistically as a family.
[00:19:08] Melissa: Yeah, because I always say a mother is as happy as her saddest child. Mm-hmm. So when you're carrying around. Not only your own diagnosis and the things that you're going through, but you're also carrying around how your children are affected by this.
Mm-hmm. It does add another layer of difficulty to the, the whole situation. there are a couple of components to the foundation. Yes. You mentioned kids can. Talk to us about the different areas that you guys kind of cover. And I see you have, you have a book with you today as
[00:21:30] Liz McLean: well. I brought that, I'm gonna leave this with you too.
Oh, nice. Yes. Great. You great to keep So kids can, would be that in-person programming offered here, um, for folks being treated through Duke or, um, or UNC Rex and then hopefully soon enough. Mm-hmm. Um, through WakeMed and then newly launched. Um, this is. A longer conversation for a different day, but a really good example of how a little seed can become a whole new thing.
Mm-hmm. Um, this book is part of our brand new program we launched this summer called A Kids or called Kickoff to Courage. Um, but the book is called a Kids Book about Cancer. And when talking about language that's available to kids and adults, I'd say at every age. Mm-hmm. We love this book. We think it's a great tool.
Yeah. I share it with other adults who have been recently diagnosed, who are overwhelmed by all the information that is being shared with them. Um, but it's really simple text and really simple words. And, um, these books are available through all of those hospital partners, whether or not. A family, um, participates in the kids can program.
Mm-hmm. Um, and are recently now available to families across the country. Yeah. Nice. Free of charge through our, um, updated website. So we've got them in hospital partners from Charlotte to the coast. Um, right now, if anyone listening has a connection to somebody providing oncology care, um, here in North Carolina or other places, would love to connect.
I just attend to, um, Atlanta Cancer Centers.
[00:23:01] Melissa: Oh, great.
[00:23:02] Liz McLean: Last week.
[00:23:03] Torry Holt: Yeah.
[00:23:03] Liz McLean: Okay. Yeah. Um, we provided a hundred copies of them to an event UNC Lineberger Center did. Um, so they're getting out into the community and it really, we say, is we're taking something families do together. Right. Story time. Mm-hmm. And we're giving them words and resources.
So it's a book meant for parents and their children to read together. Perfect. Um, and then. We've got a fun tote bag for you because every book needs Nice. Yes. Needs a fun tote bag with comes to courage, um, label there and then we have a good time using the, the football plays on words. Yes. Of I like
[00:23:35] Default_2025-11-12_2: to
[00:23:35] Liz McLean: get creative with that too.
[00:23:37] Torry Holt: And, and I was gonna say too, um, Melissa, and to, to, to follow what Liz was saying, you know, this book is age is five plus.
[00:23:44] Melissa: Mm-hmm.
[00:23:45] Torry Holt: It, it, it speaks of fear, it speaks of unknown, it speaks of illness. It speaks of the courage that it takes for kids and families to be able to deal and, and get through a diagnosis.
So I've read this book several times. That's good. I think it's one of the, it's, it's amazing just how the simplicity of it, but the impact, once you finish it, it, it, it will, it will uplift and change the dynamics of a home.
[00:24:09] Liz McLean: And I wouldn't be doing my job if I forgot to mention a $25 donation, um, monthly or one time helps us provide a copy of this book, free of charge.
Great. Yes. To families. And we've got a recurring donor giving level that's $50. And what then happens is there's a really beautiful label that gets put inside this book that tells a little bit more about the foundation. Yeah. Work we're doing. There's a note card that goes along with it with a little note from us about how we think, um, the book could be used in your family.
And then there's a place for the donor's name. So we're able to put, um, that donor information in there too, right? And then when families open them up, they can hang onto it or they can use it and they can share it to other families. When. They may find somebody in their life that finds themself in this situation.
I always say, I think the best referral for what it is that we're doing is other people who are listening like today and hearing what we're doing. Um, but are there as an additional resource when their friends find themselves in this position of having a cancer diagnosis.
[00:25:09] Melissa: Yeah, that's very true because it is so overwhelming.
You're getting. So much information thrown at you all at once and your brain just kind of go, like, shuts down. Yeah. You know, it's just a fog and, and not a lot's getting in. So it does help to have friends just say, Hey, I heard about this foundation. Do you mind if I look into it for you? Tell us the steps though.
[00:25:31] Liz McLean: Yes. So KIT Scan is a self-referral program. Mm-hmm. Um, so you can mention it at an oncology visit, um, with any of your providers at any of those local hospital partnerships. Um, or you can reach out to a social worker or ask for a referral to the child life specialist
[00:25:47] Melissa: and then they get in touch with
[00:25:48] Liz McLean: you and they get in touch with you.
Okay. Um, I'd say all of those programs do a, a one-on-one mm-hmm. Intake. Mm-hmm. Um, they wanna find out a little bit more Yeah. About how. How is it already going? Talking to your kids? Mm-hmm. And there's a whole spectrum of, my kids know from the moment of diagnosis to, I'm six weeks into this and I haven't told them yet, and I start chemo next week and
[00:26:09] Melissa: mm-hmm.
[00:26:10] Liz McLean: You know, now it's time to have that conversation.
[00:26:12] Melissa: Navigating all the, all the tricky talks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's an, it is an unfortunate thing, but it is true that I, I, I have found that kids just wanna be told the truth. Yeah. And rip off the bandaid. But there you have to be mindful about how you word things.
You, you open the book briefly and you open it to a page that said, here are some facts about cancer. And, you know, some things that are true and some things that are not. Because learning what is not true is just as important. Yes,
[00:26:41] Torry Holt: it is.
[00:26:42] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:26:42] Torry Holt: And it's a lot, it's a lot of nonsense out here.
[00:26:44] Melissa: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:26:45] Torry Holt: And you know, now kids have their phones and access to it, the
[00:26:48] Melissa: access.
Yeah.
[00:26:48] Torry Holt: At any time that they want now. So we are very conscious and even working with the hospitals, they are too, of making sure that the kids are provided. The right information Yeah. About cancer. Mm-hmm. That's very
[00:26:59] Melissa: important.
[00:27:00] Torry Holt: That's very important. And the thing about this book, what I love, the the siblings, it's good to see the siblings sitting down and reading to each other and having conversations mm-hmm.
About what cancer is. I, to me, that's probably the highlight of when we go to those meetings or when we spend time with the families. 'cause now kids are having conversations about what cancer, what the cancer diagnosis is. And I just think that it just lights me up, gives me more energy, more enthusiasm.
And lets us know that we're on the right pace, we're doing the right thing, we're impacting the right way.
[00:27:25] Melissa: And I've gotta say what an incredible, meaningful way to represent your mother.
[00:27:32] Torry Holt: You,
[00:27:33] Melissa: I mean, I'll try not to get upset, but that is, it's very touching. Thank you. And I'm sure she would be incredibly proud to say the least.
[00:27:39] Torry Holt: Thank you. Yeah. I get, I get chills every, every time we get, we get an opportunity to do an interview like this and we get a chance to talk about the foundation and Yeah. Families that we're helping and the relationships that we're building with those families and those kids. I get, I get chills too. I mean, you know, like, like I said, I've.
Had an opportunity to do some amazing things in my life. Mm-hmm. But this work that we're doing and spending time with the families is certainly the most meaningful work I've ever done.
[00:28:04] Melissa: So if, if you could go back and talk to your younger self, say, NC State Steal before heading to the NFL, what kind of advice would you give to yourself, whether it's, you know, about the foundation or about life in general?
You're talking to younger Tori. What would you like to say to him?
[00:28:25] Torry Holt: I would've said to young tore, I, I would've taken my education a lot more seriously than what I did.
[00:28:31] Melissa: Say that one more time. For my senior in high
[00:28:33] Torry Holt: school, I would have taken my education a lot more seriously than what I did. I, I was under the mindset that I would get to where I wanted to get to, just because I was a good.
Um, athlete. Yeah. Nothing else mattered.
[00:28:47] Melissa: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:28:48] Torry Holt: It was just about when, when is the next game? Mm-hmm. When is the next competition? That was all I wanted to know.
[00:28:52] Melissa: Mm-hmm.
[00:28:54] Torry Holt: I would've said, do that, have that same zest for sport. Have it for your aff athlete. Have it for your academics too. Yeah. I would've been even more.
Deadlier, I think. Mm-hmm. Had I would've taken my academics a lot more seriously. Now that I'm older, I certainly have caught up and I've got a lot more work to do. Mm-hmm. In terms of my education. But that's what I would say to my younger self, younger self, take. Advantage and responsibilities of your academics, that takes you way further than anything you could possibly imagine,
[00:29:24] Melissa: because football is only gonna last but so long.
[00:29:26] Torry Holt: It's only gonna last for so long. The body can only take so much punishment.
[00:29:29] Melissa: Yeah,
[00:29:29] Torry Holt: yeah. And at some point you gotta walk away from the game. Well, I have my education, I have my relationships, I have my diploma, et cetera. I can do anything now beyond the game of football because I've educated myself the right way.
[00:29:41] Melissa: Okay, Liz, how can people get involved with Holt Brothers Foundation, not just today on Giving Tuesday, but in general? You mentioned the book and, and the, the $25. Um, yes. And ongoing donations. What else? Yes.
[00:29:54] Liz McLean: Our recurring giving programs called Season Pass Holder, again, that nod to, to sports, I love it.
And football. So there are a variety of giving levels there. Um, and all that information's available on our website. Which is holt brothers foundation.org/donate, and it breaks down what gifts of certain amounts would go to or contribute to if they belong to a corporation that's looking for community involvement.
We do what I think is one of the most fun events happening here in the triangle. It's our event called Ultimate Game Day. Yes, it's March 21st, this coming year. So information about that's available on our website and on our socials as well. But it's a corporate flag football tournament competition. Ooh, fun.
Yeah. Lot of fun. And we hold it out at the practice facilities out at NC State. Oh, you're getting to play on the same fields that the team plays on, which is really cool. We take over that parking lot adjacent to the indoor facility, turn that into a really incredible tailgate competition. Mm-hmm. And we're adding some new components this year for a team that.
Wants to get in on the competition a little bit more, but doesn't quite wanna play flag football. Um, but we, Tory and Terrance invite friends who've played in the league to come. Mm-hmm. Join us for that event as celebrity coaches. Um, it's a really great event. We had over a thousand people just out there participating last year.
We're looking to level that up for this year.
[00:31:19] Melissa: So where can we find out more information about that?
[00:31:22] Liz McLean: Yep. So that would be on our website, holt brothers foundation.org and it's slash events.
[00:31:27] Melissa: Okay.
[00:31:28] Torry Holt: And it's, and it's so cool. I, I get a Terrance and I both get a kick outta watching engineers run slant routes.
We, and
[00:31:37] Melissa: they're serious about it.
[00:31:39] Torry Holt: I,
[00:31:40] Melissa: I do think that every man in their mind
[00:31:43] Torry Holt: yes,
[00:31:43] Melissa: could have played in the NFL. In
[00:31:46] Torry Holt: their mind, they
[00:31:46] Melissa: really feel like they could have. But So this is their way to prove that? That's right. Actually, they could not have,
[00:31:52] Torry Holt: oh man. We see it all. It's
[00:31:52] Liz McLean: co-ed though.
[00:31:53] Torry Holt: So
[00:31:53] Liz McLean: I'm, I'm out here
[00:31:54] Melissa: trying to
[00:31:55] Liz McLean: recruit all the, all the women who also wanna play
[00:31:58] Torry Holt: flag football and, and, and, and the women, they can get down and, oh,
[00:32:02] Melissa: there's, they get very serious
[00:32:04] Torry Holt: flag football has grown tremendously amongst our women, and they, they are playing and they're playing at a high level.
They understand it. Mm-hmm. They take it seriously. They appreciate the craft. So it's really cool to watch our women. Get involved with our flag football tournament. But yeah, like Liz said, it's co-ed. It's you know, it's architects, it's engineers, it's, it's all different walks of life of folks that are out there competing at a flag football tournament and a little bit of cornhole.
So we have a, and then the, um, tailgate competition. So it's a, it's a full day, but it's an exciting day, all for a great cause. Bringing awareness to our foundation. Help uplift our community and giving these kids and these families an opportunity to to succeed and be, be better, be good beyond the diagnosis.
[00:32:45] Melissa: And I, I love that you and your brother. Incorporate your love of football.
[00:32:50] Torry Holt: Yeah.
[00:32:50] Melissa: Into the foundation and into everything you do. Yeah. Because it's clear that you still really love talking about football. Yes. Probably playing football. Yes. Yeah. Well, my brother, it's still in your blood.
[00:33:00] Torry Holt: It is. It's still in our blood and, mm-hmm.
And look, and, and my brother Terrence, who's not with us today, but he is, he's fantastic. I, I, I couldn't ask for a better brother. A better friend. Yeah. Um, a better business partner. Um, he is, he is an amazing guy. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I look up to him. He's the little brother, but I look up to him because of the things that, how he leads his life.
When we were young, he was the one that would always run around and be like, I'm gonna be a doctor, I'm gonna be a lawyer, I'm gonna be this. And I was, again, I'm playing ball.
[00:33:29] Liz McLean: Yeah, yeah.
[00:33:30] Torry Holt: He's always into his books. He and his, my sister both, they were always into their books, really did well with their education.
So I have a tremendous amount of respect and love for my brother. Again, I couldn't ask for a better partner. And we together past 25 years have been right there with each other through thick and thin. And man, we, we couldn't we couldn't be more excited about where we are. Nonprofit as well as what our for-profit in the construction company.
Now.
[00:33:53] Melissa: That's really sweet. I mean, because it's also, people always say don't work with family.
[00:33:57] Torry Holt: Yeah.
[00:33:58] Melissa: You know, but you see that it can, I think they're the exception. Yeah.
[00:34:00] Torry Holt: My mom and dad though, my mom and dad, God bless my mom's heart, she didn't, she didn't play that, like she didn't let us, like if we got into confrontations, yes we did that, but it didn't last long 'cause she didn't play and didn't tolerate us.
Going at each other and disrespecting each other. In a way, she always believed that, you know, you, you can't live in this household and think that you can talk to your brother and sister and your parents a certain way, and then you leave the home and then you, you all of a sudden you this great person and you talking lovely to everyone.
She didn't believe that she believed that. You, yes. Y'all gonna have your run-ins, but there's a level of respect that you're gonna have for each other. Yeah.
[00:34:36] Melissa: Family first.
[00:34:37] Torry Holt: Family first. Mm-hmm. And you and you guys do things together. Y'all spend time together. You, you know, you treat each other, you know, the right way.
And that's how we try to live our lives. He and I, as well as our sister, we treat our sister the same way with respect, dignity, respect, and love. And, um, yeah. And that's how we was raised. That's great. And we try to teach our, and we try to teach our kids, I
[00:34:56] Melissa: was about
[00:34:56] Torry Holt: to say, our own kids the same way.
Mm-hmm. As well as our kids can, kids that are in those programs, we have the same conversations with them as well.
[00:35:03] Melissa: Great. Yeah. Come and talk to my kids.
[00:35:04] Torry Holt: Yeah. I think
[00:35:06] Melissa: they're pretty good. Yeah. I mean, they'll, they'll squabble a little bit. Yeah. But you know, at least as they have each other's backs,
[00:35:12] Torry Holt: no doubt about
[00:35:12] Melissa: it.
Mm-hmm.
[00:35:13] Liz McLean: Mm-hmm. They're doing a great job raising these kids to also do the same. I think y'all were just out for a. Walk together as a family. Yeah. Yeah. We can. I think I come from a, my friends joke. I come from a high touch family. A family that Oh yeah. Keeps in touch throughout the day. Does a lot together.
Yeah. They're like 10 times.
[00:35:29] Torry Holt: Yeah. We, we do good. I, I, my wife and I been, you know, I met her in college. We've been married now 24 years now and got three kids. Braden, my oldest he went to NC State. He is a civil engineer. He works with McAdams, my daughter Tori she'll be graduating in December. From NC State, also
[00:35:46] Melissa: from state.
Okay. Yeah.
[00:35:47] Torry Holt: And then my youngest daughter, Brooklyn, is at NC State as well.
[00:35:50] Melissa: Wow.
[00:35:50] Torry Holt: And she be graduating in the spring of 2026. So, to this point,
[00:35:54] Melissa: talk
[00:35:54] Torry Holt: about Family Legacy, I think. Yeah. Family legacy at NC State. Mm-hmm. We all, we all hang together, we all kick it. Mm-hmm. You know, we go to concerts together, dinner together, so it's
[00:36:00] Melissa: and games.
I'm sure.
[00:36:01] Torry Holt: Games together. Yeah. So I, my, my wife and I laugh, we feel like the real flex is that they still like to hangout with us and, and chill with us. Yeah. To us, that's the real flex.
[00:36:10] Melissa: I mean, thank God Tory, hold as a dad. Um, you can't get much cooler than that. No doubt. So. Well, thank you both so much for being here.
Thank you for, for having us. I, I always say that I'm excited about my guests, but I was truly excited to have you guys here today. I love spreading good news and, and sharing people who are doing good things in the triangle. And you guys have been at the top of my list. Thank you. So thank you.
[00:36:34] Torry Holt: Thanks for allowing us to come here, Melissa.
We appreciate it. Thanks for absolutely allowing us to. Share our message to the audience. Yes.
[00:36:39] Melissa: And thank you for my book and my tote.
[00:36:40] Torry Holt: No doubt. Of
[00:36:41] Liz McLean: course. Well, and if you know of anyone else who needs one, you know where to send them.
[00:36:45] Melissa: Absolutely.
[00:36:46] Liz McLean: Thank you guys so
[00:36:46] Torry Holt: much. No, thank you. Thank you. Peace.
Thanks for listening to What's Up. Wake with Melissa Wister Huff, presented by the publishers of Carry Magazine. Wake Living and Main and Broad. Follow them on social media at Care Magazine, NC at MB magazine, nc and at Wake Living Magazine. Visit each magazine's website@caremagazine.com. Main and broad mag.com.
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