A community of supporters gathered at Brazos Hall in downtown Austin on a beautiful spring evening for the Children’s Cancer Association’s (CCA) 6th annual Live from the Heart celebration. It was a night of music, storytelling, and the exciting announcement of the expansion of CCA’s JoyRx Mentorship program into Texas. More than $445,000 was raised to fund JoyRx programs across the state, providing children music and connection during the hardest days of their lives.
The mentorship program will pair seriously ill children with trained adult volunteers who visit them in the hospital each week with bags of games and activities specifically for that child. It is the only program of its kind in the nation.
The expansion comes as CCA’s JoyRx Music program celebrates serving more that 50,000 children at 12 pediatric sites across Texas since 2013. Music Specialists walk hospital hallways and sit with children in infusion rooms, taking song requests and giving them guitar picks and egg shakers so kids can engage with music.
Earlier in the day, Texas musician Charley Crockett joined CCA CEO Jack Pipkin, Regional VP Heidi Boynton, and JoyRx Music Specialist Monica Salas for bedside visits with children served by the JoyRx programs. Charley strummed his guitar and sang, bringing smiles and moments of shared joy.
Mayor Pro Tem Chito Vela attended the evening reception and declared the day “Children’s Cancer Association JoyRx Music Day,” underscoring Austin’s belief in the power of compassion, creativity, and connection to support children and families facing serious illness.
During dinner, emcee Taylor Ellison welcomed Pipkin, who reflected on the impact that JoyRx has had on children and families.
“We often refer to JoyRx Music as being kid-prescribed music medicine, because we all know music has a universal power to heal,” Pipkin told the crowd.
Micah Black, whose daughter Kaishali is battling cancer, spoke from the heart and shared his family’s experience with JoyRx and what it means to show up for families.
Black said , “If you have even just a little bit of joy, I don’t mean happiness or wishful thinking–but actual joy–then you can say, ‘This is OK for where we are now, whether or not it gets better.’”
Long-time supporter Sarah Marshall received the Purple Torch Award, CCA’s highest honor, for her advocacy and support of JoyRx programs. Her decades of work on behalf of children facing serious illness began after her childhood loss of her brother to cancer.
The evening concluded with a musical set by Crockett, whose inspiring musical storytelling showed the power of music to connect and uplift us all.
To support JoyRx programs across Texas, visit support.joyrx.org.
