Children's Cancer Association

JoyRx Mentorship - JoyRx Mentorship fosters trusted companionship to inspire friendship and distraction during an isolating time. Our trained, adult volunteer JoyRx Mentors provide emotional support to children in treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses, and they offer critical support to parents who endure the hardships of hospital stays with their child.In the hospital, our mentors arrive with bags full of toys, games, and activities to help their young friends laugh and smile. Their friendship helps kids just be who they are - appealing to their interests and personal preferences. Continued on schedule O.With their mentor, they can play games, watch movies, do arts and crafts, or whatever activity they want to help pass the time in the hospital. For parents, these visits offer a brief respite, allowing a moment for themselves - they can take a walk, grab some coffee, spend time with their other children, or take an opportunity to step away and breathe. Mentorship matches can last multiple years, and often the bonds of friendship are still strong long after the final treatment.Since 1999, the program has matched more than 1,600 kids undergoing lengthy treatment regimens with a trained and trusted adult mentor volunteer.While hospital COVID-19 protocols were still in place, the award-winning JoyRx Mentorship program facilitated virtual matches to provide young patients with a caring and trusted adult mentor during treatment. Virtual matches met via video chat to give kids additional support and companionship during hospital appointments, inpatient stays, or while isolating at home.In November 2022, we resumed in-person matches with the easing of hospital restrictions and availability of the COVID-19 vaccine. Since then, our mission has been to return to triple-digit matches once again as we rebuild this program.In April 2024, we reached a major milestone: over 100 active mentorship matches.