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August 29-30, 2012
HEALTHY LIFE: CANCER
17
By CHRISTINA LENT
Pamplin Media Group
Reina and Ty Jenkins will forever be
thankful for the support their family re-
ceived from the Children’s Cancer Associ-
ation as both of their sons were in the bat-
tles of their lives.
As a baby, their 6-year-old son Tyler, val-
iantly fought acute transverse myelitis, an
inflammation of the spinal cord that initially
left him paralyzed from the neck down. The
Bull Mountain couple’s 4-year-old son Tan-
ner bravely battled lymphoma after being di-
agnosed when he was 2.
Through all the confusing and painful
treatments and long hospital stays along the
road to recovery for both boys, the team at
the Portland-based nonprofit was there for
Tyler, Tanner and the Jenkins family.
“We are so grateful for the memories they
helped us create that we wouldn’t have been
able to,” Reina Jenkins said. “They provided
lots of opportunities to make the kids feel
special and escape a little bit from reality.
“They made the treatment process not
such a nightmare to go through and gave the
kids something to look forward to. They be-
came an extended family.”
Bringing joy to young hearts
The Children’s Cancer Association was
founded in 1995 and has set the standard as
a national leader in helping thousands of se-
riously ill children and their
families each year.
Through its unique array
of innovative Joy Rx pro-
grams the CCA offers at
no cost to families, the or-
ganization brings sooth-
ing music, friendship, ac-
cess to resources and a
network of community sup-
port to young patients and
their families.
“We deliver joy every day,”
said Regina Ellis, CEO and
founder of the CCA, who
knows how devastating it can
be to have a child diagnosed
with a life-threatening illness. “The Chil-
dren’s Cancer Association was created about
17 years ago around a kitchen table in South-
west Portland from my family’s personal ex-
perience of battling cancer with our oldest
daughter Alex.”
The CCA was established in loving memo-
ry of 5-year-old Alexandra Ellis, who coura-
geously fought cancer for two and a half
years before she died in May of 1995. From
the Ellis family’s experience was born a pas-
sionate commitment to help other families
facing the same challenges.
When children from birth to 18 need more
than access to great hospitals, medical pro-
fessionals and treatment options, the CCA
has made it a mission to deliver the healing
power of music, play and friendship.
“It’s about being there for a child sitting in a
hospital room, in a child’s greatest moment of
need. It’s delivering joy and offer-
ing them hope — it’s what we do
that nobody else does,” Regina El-
lis said.
At the top of that list is the
CCA’s nationally recognized Mu-
sic Rx program that continues
to grow. Therapeutic music spe-
cialists and volunteers have
been delivering bedside music
therapy, hallway performances
and an interactive mobile mu-
sic cart to hospitals across the
region for 17 years.
Simple pleasures
Managed by a 30-member
staff and fueled by more than
1,700 volunteers, the CCA offers free services
in 25 pediatric units in seven regional medical
centers, including Randall Children’s Hospital
at Legacy Emanuel, Doernbecher Children’s
Hospital, The Center for Medically Fragile
Children at Providence Child Center, Legacy
Salmon Creek Hospital, CARES Northwest,
Shriner’s Hospital for Children and The Dou-
gy Center.
The organization has matched more than
1,000 kids in Oregon with a ChemoPal mentor,
a caring adult who gives young cancer pa-
tients a trusted friend to look forward to see-
ing during chemotherapy treatments.
The CCA also offers families opportunities
to take part in free field trip activities from at-
tending a Blazers game to a trip to the Oregon
Zoo, taking a golf lesson or a bowling party.
In 2006, community support led to the open-
ing of the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin, a $1.6
million retreat home on 23 acres in Pacific City
with its own private lake and white sand
beach. This secluded escape allows families
with terminally ill children and young cancer
patients to get away for a weekend at no cost
to build memories.
“After being tethered to the hospital for two
to three years, the Caring Cabin gives families
a chance to be alone and create special mo-
ments together,” Ellis said. “It is truly a magi-
cal place.”
The CCA also provides a Care Concierge
program that offers a direct link to hundreds
of existing local and national support services
and created The Kid’s Cancer Pages, the first-
ever national resource directory on childhood
cancer that has been distributed to families
and children’s hospitals across the United
States.
Moving forward, Ellis said the CCAwould
continue to remain focused on meeting the
needs of children in the region, while also
sharing programs and tools with medical pro-
fessionals, children and families in other
states and communities.
For more information, visit JoyRx.org.
Delivering
JOY
Children’s Cancer Association
offers friendship, support and
music to seriously ill kids
Tanner and Tyler Jenkins are
two of many kids helped by the
Children’s Cancer Association.
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