Sometimes gratitude is born from the moments we never would have chosen.
For the Nieves family of Naples, one of those moments came in 2022, when Andrea Nieves was a college student more than a thousand miles from home. After a fall sent her to an emergency room in New York, imaging revealed something no 20-year-old expects to hear: she had a brain tumor.
Andrea was eventually diagnosed with a central neurocytoma and underwent surgery at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, followed by 25 rounds of radiation. Today, she is a survivor, studying biochemistry at Florida Gulf Coast University and continuing toward her goal of becoming a physician.
But her experience also changed the trajectory of her younger brother Darren Nieves.
Watching his sister face treatment gave Darren an intimate look at what a brain tumor diagnosis means beyond the hospital room. He saw the fear and uncertainty, but also the financial pressures families can encounter—from medical expenses and travel to lost wages and everyday household costs that do not disappear when a child becomes sick.
Rather than simply feeling fortunate that Andrea survived, Darren decided to turn his family’s gratitude into something larger.
In 2025, while still a teenager, he founded Minds Over Tumors, a Naples-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping children and families affected by brain tumors.
Its mission is built around two interconnected priorities: supporting families who need help today and investing in research that could change outcomes tomorrow.
Through its direct family relief program, Minds Over Tumors helps Southwest Florida families navigate expenses that can accompany treatment, including costs that insurance may not cover. The organization offers families a personal and confidential point of contact, recognizing that sometimes what people need most during a crisis is simply to know someone is ready to help.
The second pillar focuses on research. Minds Over Tumors directs donor support toward institutions working to advance brain tumor treatments and has already fully funded a summer research fellowship at Stanford University in partnership with the American Brain Tumor Association. The research examines the potential role of immune cells in fighting glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer.
For such a young organization, its momentum has been remarkable.
Minds Over Tumors has raised more than $430,000 since its founding. Its inaugural A Night in Paris gala, held in November 2025 at the Elite Jets hangar in Naples, welcomed 270 guests and raised more than $200,000 in a single evening. The organization has also distributed teddy bears to young patients throughout Southwest Florida, offering children something tangible to hold onto during frightening moments.
Perhaps what makes Minds Over Tumors especially meaningful in this season of gratitude is the idea at the center of its story: giving does not always begin with abundance. Sometimes it begins with understanding.
Darren understood what it felt like to sit beside someone you love and wish you could make the difficult parts disappear. He could not change what happened to Andrea, but he could help change the experience for the family sitting in the next waiting room.
That philosophy will continue this December with Minds Over Tumors’ second annual signature gala, A Night of Miracles: Emerald & Gold Edition, at Royal Poinciana Golf Club. The evening will once again bring the community together to support families and fund research.
In a community known for generosity, Minds Over Tumors offers a particularly poignant definition of giving back: take the experience that changed you and use it to change something for someone else.
For Darren and Andrea, gratitude is not simply about appreciating a second chance.
It is about using it.
Visit https://www.mindsovertumors.org to learn more and support.
Buy tickets to their second annual gala today: https://www.mindsovertumors.org/gala
The Power of Keeping Going
For founder Darren Nieves, Minds Over Tumors began with his sister Andrea’s battle with a brain tumor, but its purpose now reaches far beyond his own family. Since launching in 2025, the Naples nonprofit has raised more than $430,000 while helping families facing the financial and emotional realities of a pediatric brain tumor diagnosis and investing in research for better treatments. Darren’s philosophy is captured in a simple mantra: “Keep going, keep going, keep going.” It is a fitting message for the children Minds Over Tumors serves—and for a community proving that gratitude becomes even more powerful when transformed into action.