The Gibson Showroom was the perfect backdrop for Children’s Cancer Association’s (CCA) first Live from the Heart event in Austin, Texas. 150 people enjoyed an intimate concert featuring renowned musician Shakey Graves. They gathered to celebrate and support the healing power of music, not just for themselves, but for the hundreds of children and teens at hospitals in Texas.

Ten years ago, an idea formed between Children’s Cancer Association’s (CCA) VP of Development, Jennifer O’Bryan, and Genentech’s External Communication and Community Relations Manager, Jenn Klotz. It was Jenn’s first year working for Genentech, and she was looking to create a lasting impact on the community. “CCA’s mission rang true for me. Joy gives people hope. Genentech’s ability to support children and their families facing serious illness by taking them to Blazers games is a reminder to those families that their community is there for them.”

Joy for the Holidays (formerly known as Hope for the Holidays) was another resounding success for 2018’s season of giving. Lead by the Children’s Cancer Association’s (CCA) Link Program, and generously supported by Fortis Construction, this event harnessed the power of our dedicated community to provide joy to families during the holiday season.

This #GivingTuesday, MyMusicRx presented its fifth Bedstock, the annual online music festival where artists perform from bed as a show of solidarity with seriously ill kids and teens spending the holidays from hospital beds. The festival raised nearly $35,000 for MyMusicRx, CCA’s flagship program, which delivers the healing power of music to seriously ill kids and teens.

When we founded Children’s Cancer Association 23 years ago after the death of my oldest daughter Alexandra, we knew first hand that hospitalized kids needed more than medicine. We set out to change the conversation in children’s healthcare at a time when no one else was talking about JOY in the same breath as pediatric cancer.

Over 500 students from six rival Catholic high schools walked arm in arm for the Children’s Cancer Association (CCA) this past month. Their annual Walk for Joy event brings them together under one cause, JOY. This year marks the highest number of participating schools since the event began in 2015 and they raised over $46,000 for CCA!

We are proud to share that together we raised $1.2 million at the 18^th annual Wonderball gala on Sept. 29, 2018, to fuel our mission of prescribing joy to seriously ill children and their families. CCA welcomed more than 800 supporters to the Oregon Convention Center for a magical night inspired by the healing power of the great outdoors, aptly themed “The Outdoors are Calling.”

For five days this past August, young, aspiring basketball stars perfected their skills at the 7th annual Fundamentals Basketball Camp, founded and run by Jake Mount and his co-counselor John Winkler.

This summer, in collaboration with Channing Frye, The Frye Family Foundation, and L’Angolo Estate, a group of young business owners, entrepreneurs, and athletes joined together for the first annual Give Joy, Get Joy to deliver the healing power of joy to seriously ill kids.

This year’s CCA Invitational, formerly known as the Children’s Pro-Am, marks the 10^th year of lively competition for amateurs and pros alike. This two-day event led by co-chairs Grant Hammersley and Paul Gulick with presenting sponsor Opus Agency, inspires PGA professionals from across Oregon and Southwest Washington to reach for one common goal – provide joy to seriously ill children and their families through the Children’s Cancer Association’s (CCA) free-of-charge programs.

We teamed up with BurnCycle, The Lab X Burn, and BurnMVMT to bring Summer Joy Games back to the field of Providence Park. This family-friendly, community-driven event raises funds and awareness for CCA’s free-of-charge programs.

Self-professed Kids Cancer Hero CS Sheffield has been a Children’s Cancer Association Ambassador Board Member since 2010 and is currently Co-Chair. That’s about the same time he became Twitter sensation @SheffStation. What CS has achieved for CCA in the eight years since then is nothing short of remarkable.

On a sweltering, 95-degree day in June, Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club co-founder, Gay Davis, teed off the 8th annual Golf for Joy fundraiser. It was a three-day event where golfers braved heat, rain, and even thunderstorms, but none of that deterred them from raising nearly $350,000 for the Children’s Cancer Association (CCA)!

MyMusicRx once again invited Austinites to “feel the music and feel better” during the world-renowned SXSW Festival. They responded with a resounding “yes!” turning out for live music events that helped us raise nearly $10,000 to fuel the upcoming launch of MyMusicRx bedside service at St. David’s Children’s Hospital, filling a critical gap in arts and music program services for Central Texas kids and families.

February at Children’s Cancer Association (CCA) is always a special occasion. Each year, we organize our city-wide fundraising event all centered around Valentine’s Day and the season of love. This year, we made a number of changes, the first of which was renaming the event to Hearts of Joy to encompass a month-long fundraising endeavor.

This #GivingTuesday MyMusicRx proudly presented Bedstock, our annual online music festival where artists perform from bed in solidarity with sick kids spending the holidays stuck in their hospital beds. This year’s festival has raised a record-breaking $88,000, almost DOUBLE the amount raised last year!

At the Children’s Cancer Association (CCA), we are dedicated to bringing JOY to seriously ill children and teens, but we can’t do it alone. Your donations make all the difference to our mission and over the years we’ve strived to use every dollar wisely.

In FY17, CCA focused on delivering exceptional quality, mission impact growth, and evidence-based analytics and results.

We asked you to spend the day in bed for seriously ill children and you didn’t disappoint! Nearly 1.5 million fans tuned in from around the world to watch their favorite artists, like Ed Sheeran, Nick Jonas, Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band, Frank Iero, and Shinedown, play from bed. Together on #GivingTuesday we raised $65,000 to bring the healing power of music to hospitalized kids across the country. Thank you! This puts us well on the way to achieving our $100,000 Bedstock goal before year end.

On October 7^th, the very same night of CCA’s Wonderball: Age of Aquarius, 3000 miles away in Montclair, New Jersey, 12-year-old Ella Freund was kicking off an incredible CCA fundraiser of her own.