LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Fernando Nava spends his free time behind the camera — capturing the stories of families navigating one of the hardest experiences imaginable.
WATCH | Justin Bruce shows you what makes Nava this month's Vegas Stronger Champion:
Nava volunteers with Zo's Bravehearts, a Las Vegas nonprofit that supports families dealing with childhood cancer. He creates media content, organizes photo shoots, and produces videos to raise awareness about what the organization does.
"So I create all their media content, I organize photo shoots, I go and take pictures of the families. I create little passages, promos for them," Nava said.
Monica Olivares, Director of Family Services at Zo's Bravehearts, said Nava's work captures the emotional reality of what families go through — and why the organization exists.
"I think that when you're able to tell the story of like, hey, this is what the challenges are for a family and this is how we show up for them, it goes a long way. So his material makes me cry every time I see it and for him to be able to bring that emotion alive is truly amazing," Olivares said.
Zo's Bravehearts steps in to handle the day-to-day challenges that pile up when a child is fighting cancer. Families dealing with childhood cancer are estimated to spend 100 extra hours a week managing their child's illness and recovery.
"It's anything that the family will need. I will use our network and uh the community is so amazing. They will help out with whatever the family needs as well," Olivares said.
That support can include housekeeping to maintain a germ-free home, transportation assistance to ensure patients make all their appointments, meal delivery, and emotional support.
Rino Armeni, founder and president of Zo's Bravehearts, said the mission comes down to one thing.
"At the end of the day. What we bring is normalcy. You have no idea how easy it is when you have a child with cancer to lose the normalcy in a family. It's the worst thing you can do, especially when you have siblings. How do you handle that, right? How do you balance your life? That's what we do. We help them balance their life," Armeni said.
The organization was born from personal experience. In 2020, Armeni's grandson Lorenzo was diagnosed with leukemia. Armeni stepped back from work to help support Lorenzo's family during his treatment. Lorenzo successfully battled the disease, and the experience inspired Armeni to build something lasting for other families facing the same struggle.
Armeni said Nava's ability to connect with the families he photographs is what makes him so effective.
"He is amazing, you know, he just came one day and decide to help us out and volunteers... He has a great relationship with the families, so he's able to go to knock on the door and say, hi, can I come in and they accept him immediately, uh, just because he's a wonderful human being," Armeni said.
Nava was recently named a Vegas Stronger Champion by Findlay Automotive Group's Jeff Giles.
"They nominated you for the work that you've been doing all this time, in volunteering and making sure that this message of what you guys do gets out into the community," Giles told Nava as he presented him with a check for $599, "and so for that, you are a Vegas stronger champion and we want to just recognize you and give you this small token of our appreciation for what you do."
Nava said he did not see the recognition coming!
"Monica, she was just like, 'Hey, Fernando, I just need you here. You know, there's gonna be some people. I just need you here. They're going to talk about Zo's Bravehearts so we need you here,'" Nava chuckled.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
