When Children's Cancer Association was founded in 1995, its flagship program — JoyRx Music — was built on a simple, powerful idea: bring live music directly to children in the hospital. For decades, trained JoyRx Music Specialists visited kids bedside at local Portland hospitals, creating personalized musical moments tailored to each child's mood, energy, and interests. 

On Siblings Day, we celebrate the unique relationships that shape us from childhood into adulthood – the first friends, the protectors, the tormentors, the rivals, and the companions who influence who we will become and how we will see the world. For Beth, that bond with her older sister, Maddie, continues to impact her life today as an oncology nurse, a JoyRxMentor, and as a surviving sibling whose life and perspective was changed by childhood cancer.  

This article is part of our 30 on 30 series, commemorating 30 years of Children’s Cancer Association in 2025. This month, we welcome a guest blog from JoyRx Music Senior Manager Elke Downer as she highlights the importance of JoyRx Music Digital Live.

This article is part of our 30 on 30 series, commemorating 30 years of Children’s Cancer Association in 2025. This month, we celebrate the amazing individuals of the JoyRx Team.

Another fiscal year has come and gone, and Children’s Cancer Association is pleased to share the Community Investment Report for our FY25 (May 2024 – April 2025) fiscal year.

Join us each day in September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, as we honor the individuals who helped Children’s Cancer Association in our first 30 years.

In recognition of our thirtieth anniversary, we are thrilled to showcase, celebrate, and highlight the JoyRx Luminaries who light this path.

This article is part of our 30 on 30 series, commemorating 30 years of Children’s Cancer Association in 2025. This month, we’re highlighting 30 stories of impact from JoyRx Music.

Thirty years. Three decades.

On our official birthday, July 25, we reflect on the impact thirty years has made on the lives of children nationwide. How do you measure 30 years?

In 2025, we are honoring thirty years as an organization.  As we reflect on the past three decades, we’re humbled to say that we’ve been able to offer free JoyRx programs and create numerous moments of joy thanks to the generosity of many outstanding supporters and champions in the community. 

Join us as we take a look at 30 milestones and key moments that define our first thirty years.  

On Saturday, February 8, the thirty-eighth annual Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl Party honored JoyRx as one of the recipients of the Steinberg Denicola Humanitarian Awards for 2025.  

In November 2024, JoyRx Music Digital Live expanded services with Children’s Nebraska in Omaha, Nebraska.  

The Board of Directors of JoyRx | Children’s Cancer Association is pleased to announce the appointment of Jack Pipkin to Chief Executive Officer, ushering in a new chapter in the leadership of the innovative non-profit on the eve of its thirtieth anniversary year in 2025.

On October 2, JoyRx launched Digital Live services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in New York City. This new team-up marks our fiftieth healthcare partnership and our seventh in the New York area.  

JoyRx is pleased to share this year’s Community Investment Report. In the pages of this report, you’ll see our accomplishments from our FY24 fiscal year.

On September 11, JoyRx hosted the second annual virtual JoyRx Music Network Convening, with over 40 attendees joining from across the country.  

Today on July 25, JoyRx celebrates our twenty-ninth birthday as an organization. It’s been an inspiring and humbling twenty-nine years and we’re so grateful for all of our supporters coming on this journey with us.

We’re pleased to announce our newest hospital partner for 2024. Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, joined the JoyRx Music Network on May 7.  

It’s Volunteer Appreciation Month! Founded to celebrate current volunteers and encourage others to join volunteering efforts, this month of gratitude highlights the importance of giving back to the community.

It’s been a fruitful fiscal year for JoyRx Music’s programmatic expansion across the country. From Portland to Austin to New York City to Memphis — we’re ending our 2023-2024 fiscal year at the end of April 2024 with 46 pediatric hospital and healthcare partners, including 10 new sites in our network.

Editor’s note: This special edition blog was written by JoyRx Music Manager Elke Downer. What a week! JoyRx Director of Partner Engagement Allyn Cripe and I recently attended and presented at the forty-seventh annual APOSW (Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers) conference, which took place in Chicago, Illinois, from April 8 to 10.