How Drew and Beth Quartapella expanded the geographic reach of their generosity.

Drew Quartapella believes philanthropy begins at home. And he’s always wanted to support causes in Charlotte, the city he’s called home for 30 years.

He and his wife, Beth, invest their time and charitable dollars in their community. They raised their twin sons, Michael and Nick, to have that same service mindset.

“Our boys grew up going to Roof Above and Room at the Inn,” said Quartapella. “They were Eagle Scouts. We wanted them to understand that people can find themselves in unfortunate circumstances.” And if you’re in a position to help, you should.

The Quartapellas are serious about charitable giving. They established a family foundation, and BlackArch Partners, the investment bank Drew co-founded in 2010 — created a foundation designed to “help with needs we saw within 704,” Quartapella said.

Those needs include housing, hunger and children’s health, among others. For many years, the Quartapellas’ generosity focused almost entirely on Charlotte.

So, when Quartapella was approached about supporting OneWorld Health, a Charleston, South Carolina-based nonprofit that serves Central America and Africa, he was hesitant. “I told them there were plenty of problems right outside my back door,” he said.

But Matt Alexander, OneWorld’s CEO at the time, had a ready response. “Love has no borders,” Quartapella recalls him saying. “That got me right in the heart.”

Origin story

Quartapella was already a fan NEEDTOBREATHE when he attended their 2015 concert at Blackberry Farm, a resort near Knoxville, Tennessee. At a pre-concert dinner, he was seated beside the band’s lead singer and principal songwriter, Bear Rinehart, who told him about

OneWorld Health, NEEDTOBREATHE’s global nonprofit partner.

Two days later, Quartapella was on the phone with Rinehart and Alexander, who’d heard that Charlotte was a generous community. “Charlotte has earned that reputation,” Quartapella said. “And Foundation for the Carolinas has been a big part of that.”

The Quartapellas first came to FFTC to simplify their family’s charitable giving. They converted their family foundation to an FFTC Donor Advised Fund. The Foundation takes on administration while families get a flexible, convenient way to achieve their philanthropic goals.

Those goals go beyond their substantial financial support; Beth and Drew get deeply involved in the causes they care about. They’ve led fundraising efforts at Charlotte Latin School and Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Beth has been active with the Mint Museum for 15 years and recently served as Board chair. Drew has served on the boards of Let Me Run, the Humane Society of Charlotte and his and Beth’s alma mater, the University of Houston.

Deciding whether to take on another cause, especially one so far away, took a lot of deliberation. And this request was for more than a donation; it involved building a stage in their backyard.

Rockers with heart

House concerts are a good way for fledgling musicians to expand their fan base. A Grammy-nominated band with five No. 1 albums to their name is more likely to play an arena.

But NEEDTOBREATHE is a rock band with a big heart. And small-town roots. Brothers Bear and Bo Rinehart were preacher’s kids who grew up playing music in their native Possum Kingdom, South Carolina.

When they formed NEEDTOBREATHE in 1998, their music was classified as Christian rock. Their massive crossover appeal allowed them to drop the Christian label, but the band still has the values they were raised with. They use their platform to help others. Including the $3 million the Quartapella concerts have brought in, they’ve raised $9.5 million for OneWorld Health.

Globally supported. Locally led and sustained.

As much as Quartapella liked OneWorld’s mission of serving what Jacqui Poole, OneWorld’s senior vice president of global communications and marketing, calls “the least advantaged of our brothers and sisters around the globe,” he needed to be convinced his investment was a wise one.

Plus, asking friends and colleagues to support the cause added another layer of responsibility. “I take it very personally,” he said. “I’m inviting people I care about, and I knew they’d be very generous. Reputationally, it was important that I do my research.”

He found plenty to admire about OneWorld, including:

• The sustainable way the group delivers healthcare: “They bring in local doctors with high-quality technology in permanent facilities, building healthcare systems that the communities themselves sustain and are invested in,” Quartapella said. “I liked the ‘teach-them-to-fish’ approach.”
• “The cost to provide quality healthcare in Uganda, Nicaragua and Honduras is a lot less than what Americans are used to,” he said. “And the need is so great.”
  

  Photo courtesy OneWorld Health

• The co-founders understood medicine and Dr. Ed O’Bryan is a former ER doctor with an MBA, and Matt Alexander (who’d said, “Love has no borders”) is an entrepreneur who’d seen how poverty and a lack of infrastructure impact healthcare in some corners of the globe.
• The business model, which Poole described as “building permanent facilities so the patient volume and associated fees would cover all operating costs. The operating costs of every project we build are 100% covered within two years. That includes doctors’ salaries, most equipment, supplies, medicine, even the janitorial and security staff.”

Opening their hearts (and their home)

NEEDTOBREATHE is known as a great live act. “Rolling Stone” wrote that they “erupt onstage,” which helps explain why they sold out Denver’s iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre recently. As Taylor Swift’s opener on her Speak Now World Tour, they played to capacity crowds of more than 65,000.

Playing for 175 people in the Quartapellas’ backyard was a different vibe, but everyone involved was excited that the first benefit concert in 2015 raised about $200,000.

Five more concerts followed. The most recent, in December 2024, drew 325 people and raised $700,000. Keep in mind: These concerts are in the Quartapellas’ backyard. It’s a massive undertaking. “Having 300 people in your home is a big disruption for Beth,” Poole said, “yet she does it so graciously.”

The “Quartapella concerts” have been so successful that they’ve been replicated in Chicago,  Atlanta and Dallas/Ft. Worth.

And still, the family wanted to do more. To increase their impact, they needed to move to a larger venue. They chose the historic Carolina Theatre, and set a fundraising goal of $1 million for the Nov. 20 event. Thanks to generous sponsors, all expenses are already covered. So, 100% of ticket sales will benefit OneWorld Health.

Funds raised at every Quartapella concert have been earmarked for a specific need. This year, every dollar is going to diagnostics, which Poole called “the first step in anybody’s health journey. Without a diagnosis, you can’t get quality healthcare.”

Seeing is believing

Quartapella became a true believer after taking his family to Nicaragua in 2016. His commitment deepened when he traveled to Uganda in 2019 and saw the disparity between OneWorld Health facilities and public hospitals.

An OB unit in a public hospital was just “a room with, probably, 20 women who were about to or had just given birth,” he said. “It was like a birthing warehouse. There was an overcrowded ER waiting room and a line out the door and one doctor trying to see everyone.”

He noticed heaps of discarded electronics — everything from copiers to radiology equipment — outside the public hospital. “Things break, and they don’t have the know-how to fix them,” he said.

In contrast, OneWorld Health facilities look like those you see in Charlotte, Quartapella said. Equipment donations include technology and the support to maintain it.

Evolution of an event

The backyard concerts have all followed a similar format: 75 minutes of music with a live auction during intermission. Every event has been catered by Porcupine Provisions — even the May 2020 event, when COVID forced the world indoors.

Cancelling would’ve been logical. But Quartapella figured out a way to make it happen and raise $250,000.

Baskets filled with gourmet food and wine were delivered to patrons’ doorsteps. Donors could enjoy a catered dinner while watching, via Zoom, NEEDTOBREATHE perform live in a Nashville studio. Quartapella also sold 15 VIPs tickets to fans who were in the studio for the ultimate private concert.

This year’s concert breaks the mold. The venue is bigger, and there’s a focus on the music. There’s still an auction, but it’s a silent one. “The band is bringing a road crew of 18 to Charlotte, and they’ll play for two hours,” Quartapella said. “This is a real concert.”

Redefining ‘community’

As the host, Quartapella always gets to request a couple of songs. “Able,” which the band seldom performs live, is usually one. “Keep your Eyes Open,” which has become sort of the family theme song, is another.

It’s fitting for a family so aware of the needs of others that goes to extraordinary lengths to address them. Their philanthropy goes far beyond donations.

“It’s not just the dollars, which are tremendous,” Poole said. “It’s the connections and the consistency. Beth and Drew have such joy about serving others. Their support has impacted thousands of people in different corners of the world.”

The Quartapellas haven’t stopped working to solve problems outside their back door. But when they merged that philosophy with the idea that “love has no borders,” their jurisdiction got a whole lot bigger. They now consider the entire global village their community.

 

Party with a purpose, concert for a cause. A few $1,000 VIP Experience tickets remain for the Nov. 20 NEEDTOBREATHE benefit concert for OneWorld Health at the Carolina Theatre. Orchestra and balcony seats are available starting at $275, and include beer and wine. Learn more and secure tickets at owh-charlotte.com.

A band with a big heart. To learn about the global impact NEEDTOBREATHE has made since 2014, visit needtobreathecares.org.

Simplify your charitable giving. For more information on a Donor Advised Fund, contact Foundation for the Carolinas at 704.973.4500 or philanthropy@fftc.org.

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Healthcare looks different when you don’t have clean water

It’s hard for Americans to fathom what healthcare looks like in the places OneWorld Health serves. Jacqui Poole of OneWorld Health shares a few examples:

• In the U.S., there’s one doctor for every 325 people. In Uganda, there’s one for every 25,500 people. And the majority of the populations OneWorld Health serves live on less than $2 a day.
  

  Melissa, who received corrective surgery from OneWorld Health’s team in Masindi, Uganda.

 

• Public health information is often spread in ways that seem outdated to us. “When I asked a teammate in Uganda what he needed to reach people, I expected him to say video equipment or ad money,” said Poole. “He said, ‘a megaphone.’ I thought he meant an app. He meant an actual megaphone to share health information in markets and villages.”

 

• In developing countries, medical care isn’t always provided by trained clinicians. Poole recalled a 10-year-old Ugandan girl named Melissa who sustained a minor abrasion on her arm when she fell while playing soccer. Her family didn’t have Neosporin, a bandage or even clean water, and the cut got infected. It grew worse, until she ultimately had to have her arm amputated. The surgery wasn’t performed properly, and the bone started growing back. OneWorld Health’s team in Masindi, Uganda performed a corrective surgery, and she is perfectly healthy today.