Joy in Austin, Texas, and beyond
The goal of Children’s Cancer Association is simple: to help every child feel joy during their health journey — one song, one drumbeat, one connection at a time.
Find our smiles in many of Austin’s hospitals, where we meet with kids and their families to deliver joy and hope.
We prescribe joy.
We prescribe joy.
Why Joy?
We know that moments of joy and connection
can transform the pediatric healthcare experience.
Every moment is precious for seriously ill children and their families. Each year, we reach nearly 15,000 hospitalized children across Texas — inviting them to sing, laugh, and play out loud — in order to find joy during life’s most challenging moments. Offered at no cost, our programs prioritize the emotional well-being of hospitalized kids. Because we believe that every kid deserves to feel like a kid, no matter their health journey.
A night of joy, music, and community support was celebrated at the 2026 Live From the Heart Austin gala, featuring Charley Crockett. With the generosity of our incredible donors, we set a new record for fundraising for JoyRx programs in Austin, Texas.
Last hosted in the spring of 2024 to great attendance and celebration, Austin’s Golf for Joy Tournament, presented by NFP, returned for its third year as a two-day event on November 9-10, 2025. And what a joyful event it was!
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.
A local Austin hospital welcomed JoyRx Music on Friday, October 10, for a fun event for families and staff to enjoy the power of music!
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 special blog was guest-written by Vonara, a JoyRx-served teen and incredible young person. It has been edited for clarity and grammar.
From Vonara’s own words, this is her experience with JoyRx Music.
Even before they joined our organization, JoyRx Music Specialists Chrissy and Monica have always loved music. It’s no surprise, then, that they make for excellent music advocates as part of JoyRx Music. Working together, they’re a force of musical joy, visiting our Austin hospital partners and performing live music for kids.
On April 17, 2025, we celebrated our fifth annual Live From the Heart, presented by Wells Fargo. There was festivity throughout the night in the beautiful Brazos Hall in Austin, Texas, with our community banding together to raise funds for JoyRx Music.
Every year, music fills the streets of Austin during SXSW, a festival that unites people through their love of music. And JoyRx Music is right there, too — bringing concert performances especially for hospitalized children at the local hospital to enjoy.
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.
When asked to describe her five-year-old son, Ford, in just one word, Allison’s answer is immediate: curious. But after receiving a Leukemia diagnosis at age five, Ford struggled to feel connected and engaged. That’s when JoyRx stepped in.
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.
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.
We are thrilled to welcome our new Regional Executive Director, South, Lindsey Sanders, who officially started at JoyRx earlier this month.
On September 11, JoyRx hosted the second annual virtual JoyRx Music Network Convening, with over 40 attendees joining from across the country.
JoyRx is excited to welcome Texas Children’s Hospital – North Austin as our newest hospital location in Austin. On June 26, 2024, we launched live, bedside music for children and families in the hospital.
Today we’re sharing the news that Grace Holland will be stepping down from her role as Regional Executive Director, South, for JoyRx.
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.
On April 21 and 22, 2024, JoyRx welcomed golfers to our second annual Golf for Joy Austin Tournament, presented by NFP. After a successful inaugural event last year, we were thrilled to return to Omni Barton Creek Resort & Country Club for an exciting two-day celebration of joy. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of supporters like you, we raised more than $245,000 in support of JoyRx Music.
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.
As the founder of JoyRx, I am writing on behalf of my colleagues on the Board of Directors to inform you of a leadership change. After nearly three years as our CEO, and over six years at the company, Danielle York and JoyRx | Children’s Cancer Association have parted ways.
When asked to describe five-year-old Randy, Irene’s face always lights up, and her answer is immediate: “He is brave and strong and brilliant.”
On February 8, 2024, JoyRx celebrated our annual Live From the Heart Benefit Concert presented by Texas Children’s Austin, raising over $350k in support of JoyRx programs to serve seriously ill children and their families.
When Priscilla Islas-McGaughy was five months pregnant with her daughter, Kamari, she learned news that rocked her family’s entire world: Kamari would be born with a rare congenital heart disease, Truncus Arteriosus Type 2, and would require surgery once she was born.
On Monday, April 24, 2023, JoyRx hosted its inaugural Golf for Joy Austin, presented by NFP. This premier two-day event included a reception and dinner, guest Q&A with PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions professional, Jim Furyk, and a PRO-AM golf experience at the beautiful Omni Barton Creek Resort & Country Club.
JoyRx shares our Local Insights with Austin. 103.5 Bob FM radio recently shared a round-up of what JoyRx is up to in Austin, including upcoming events and ways to get involved.
On Thursday, April 6, JoyRx celebrated our annual Live From the Heart Benefit Concert in Austin, Texas. This year, our musical guest was Amos Lee, who performed at the iconic ACL Moody Theater in downtown Austin.
For children who love playing and embarking on adventures, bumps and bruises are common and are often nothing to worry about. A parent can give their child a hug and an ice pack, and most kids are back on their feet ready to play again. However, for the now five-year-old daughter of Madiha, the bump on her finger was life-changing.
Create Joy with us!
Individuals and organizations can make a difference in the lives of the kids and families we serve through giving, volunteering, partnering, creating events, and so much more.