A History of JoyRx
This article is appearing as part of our 30 on 30 series, honoring 30 years of JoyRx in 2025. To add to this month's celebration, we also invite you listen to 30 iconic performances from the JoyRx stage.Our roots lie in the lived experience of our co-founders Regina Ellis and Cliff Ellis, whose daughter Alexandra (Alex) was diagnosed with cancer at age 3. The Ellis family witnessed that Alex instinctually sought out joyful experiences as a tool to cope with the trauma and treatments of cancer. After their daughter died in 1995, Regina and Cliff - together with their family, and other caring pioneers and innovators - came together with a shared vision: to create change and make a difference in the lives of seriously ill children.
Inspired by their family's experiences, what started around the Ellis family’s kitchen table with the goal to Bring Joy to Young Hearts (an early tagline) has since grown into a national nonprofit organization that has served over 250,000 children since its founding. Today, we’re guided by our founding Board Chair and current Chair of the Board of Directors, Clare Hamill, who continues to share her vision and innovative strategies, alongside the Ellis family and current JoyRx leadership, with CEO Jack Pipkin.
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.
1.
1995: Children’s Cancer Association is founded and launches JoyRx Music
JoyRx, founded as Children’s Cancer Association in 1995, began with the launch of JoyRx Music (then called MyMusicRx) in our partner hospitals, Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon.
Inspired by Alex’s beautiful but short life, JoyRx Music became the flagship program for Children’s Cancer Association. Musicians would visit children in the hospital, arriving at their bedside to play music and offer singalongs for them.
The goal of our JoyRx Music program is, and has always been, a simple yet profound one: to harness the universal power of music to help hospitalized children feel better. Our trained music specialists empower kids to find joy through curated, child-centered musical experiences tailored to their current emotional state, desired mood, and engagement level.
Just like today, the early years of JoyRx Music filled the hallways of pediatric care facilities with music. “Baby Beluga” and “The Wheels on the Bus” were classics then, as they are now, but other most-requested songs included 1995 hits such as “Hold My Hand” by Hootie & the Blowfish.
2.
1999: JoyRx Mentorship program begins
As the turn of the century approached, JoyRx launched another innovative program to address a recognized gap in pediatric care services. To protect their health and safety, many children are limited in the number of visitors who can go to their rooms while they’re doing inpatient care, which can lead to feelings of isolation, loneliness, and anxiety. Also, many parents supporting a child in treatment struggle to have even short breaks of time to themselves.
What better way to help them than to bring a trusted friend to their bedside?
JoyRx launched JoyRx Mentorship, then known as the Chemo Pal program. Over the first 25 years of the program, we’ve supported more than 1,650 matches between children and their mentors, fostering trusted companionship and inspiring genuine friendships.
The only program of its kind in the nation, our trained, adult volunteer JoyRx Mentors provide emotional support to children in treatment and to parents who endure the hardships of extended hospital stays with their child.
3.
2003: First Gala held in Portland
Our first gala started the tradition of our annual fundraiser, celebrating the wonder and joy of childhood. Since its inception, this annual fundraiser has raised millions of dollars in support of free JoyRx programs. Save the date for our 30th Anniversary Live From the Heart gala in October 2025: we hope to see you there!
4.
2003: First Kids’ Cancer Pages distributed nationwide
When Regina Ellis and her family navigated Alex’s cancer diagnosis, treatment, and death, they learned firsthand how overwhelming the process can be for children and families. While Child Life Specialists, social workers, and caring pediatric team members offer support and information locally, Regina set out to gather an easy-to-reference collection of resources for families nationally.
She created the first edition of the Kids’ Cancer Pages, a comprehensive document designed to help all families fight one of life’s most challenging battles with the necessary support and resources.
Today, we are hosting our fifth edition on our website and providing a printed copy to those who request it free of charge. The PDF version is always available on our family resources page.
5.
2006: The Caring Cabin opens its doors
Our JoyRx Nature program began in 2006 with the opening of the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin. Providing an essential connection to the natural world, this getaway on the Oregon Coast provides children in treatment and their extended families with a place of peace in a calming environment.
It had been a long-standing goal of Children’s Cancer Association to create this place of respite. Like the families who now visit the Caring Cabin, the Ellis family had the opportunity to travel for a family retreat during Alexandra’s treatment, away from the hospital, and they understood what it meant to make memories together in a special and supportive place.
We know that joy can express itself differently in children — it’s not always loud, playful, or based on laughter. Sometimes, joy is a softer feeling: falling asleep in a parent’s arms, having a quiet moment together, or finding solace at the shore of a serene lake.
The Caring Cabin is an extraordinary destination for families to relax, explore, and create once-in-a-lifetime memories.
Since its inception, we are honored and humbled to have welcomed over 650 families to the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin.
6.
2008: JoyRx Music pilots expansion
Inspired by the success of JoyRx Music in Portland, and to answer the growing need for joy-based pediatric enrichment services across the board, we piloted expansion of our JoyRx Music program in UCLA Mattel and Miller Children’s Hospitals in Los Angeles, California, to help test and better understand how to scale JoyRx.
We learned a lot about what it takes to scale our in-person programs, planting the seed for what would eventually become expanded bedside and innovative digital live programs to help us serve more kids in need of JoyRx.
7.
2010: Over 500 Mentorship matches supported
Eleven years after its launch, the JoyRx Mentorship program celebrated supporting over 500 matches in 2010. That’s 500 children paired with trusted mentors, creating lifelong memories of friendship, laughter, and connection during challenging times
Each Mentorship pair is unique and requires time, care, and attention. Our Mentorship Specialists thoughtfully match kids with mentors based on various criteria, providing training and support to mentors throughout the year, and filling toy bags with all the goodies their young friends will need.
Want to learn more about becoming a mentor? Explore volunteering options here.
8.
2011: JoyRx Music joins SXSW for the first time
Continuing our innovative transformation of pediatric care enrichment services, JoyRx Music was proud to attend SXSW as a featured guest, marking the beginning of a long tradition of festival visits.
Every year, we are invited to music festivals nationwide, such as SXSW, CMJ, Coachella, Bonnaroo, ACL, and MusicFestNW, where artists share their passion for music with the children we serve.
As far as we know, we’re the only nonprofit going to music festivals and bringing that experience to kids in their hospital beds. It allows us to be in the center of music, where artists can come backstage, visit our tent, and speak directly to the kids we serve.
In addition, our first visits to SXSW paved the way for us to facilitate live music performances and concerts at local Austin hospitals. These in-hospital concerts are always a big hit with the kids, featuring guests and artists like Haley Reinhart, SkyKatz, Red Yarn, and more.
Check out past years of SXSW concerts by reading our blogs discussing JoyRx Music in Austin and how music keeps on giving in Austin.
9.
2012: Over 100,000 volunteer hours generously given to JoyRx
The Ellis family made the decision that JoyRx programs should always be free for pediatric partners, families, and children. We know that every family who is facing serious illness is using all of their resources in that fight.
In order for JoyRx to remain free, we rely on the incredible impact of our donors, and our extraordinary volunteers. Our organization is successful because of the generosity of those who donate their time, resources, and energy to help make life a little more joyful for kids. Our volunteers play music in hospital lobbies, serve as trusted mentors to kids, help curate and upkeep the Caring Cabin, and support our events and day-to-day office operations.
10.
2012: JoyRx Mentorship becomes the first mentoring program in Oregon to be recognized as a “Quality-Based Mentoring Program,” following a thorough evaluation by the state.
11.
2013: JoyRx Music On Demand launches
For nearly twenty years, JoyRx Music has allowed hospitalized kids to choose the music experience that feels right to them. On Demand music extended our bedside experience to the online space, inviting kids facing cancer and other serious illnesses to feel the music and feel better — anytime, anywhere.
We launched MyMusicRx.org (which has since moved to YouTube as of October 2023), the only digital music experience of its kind, connecting sick kids and teens with music curated specifically for them. This platform allowed them to download free music games, explore digital instruments, record original music, and watch exclusive video greetings from popular musicians.
By the end of our 2013-2014 fiscal year, JoyRx Music On Demand was available in 19 pediatric hospitals nationwide, providing measurable benefits like relief from stress, depression, and anxiety.
We also launched Bedstock, the world’s first and only in-bed music festival featuring music performed from the bed for kids and teens who can’t leave theirs. Our first annual Bedstock featured 23 bands and musicians, along with 15 JoyRx-served kids and teens, resulting in 47.9 million impressions.
Bedstock welcomed hundreds of artists to the proverbial stage in its five years of running. These incredible artists, such as Nick Jonas, B.o.B., Ed Sheeran, Nora Jones, Ringo Starr, Jack Johnson, and Panic! at the Disco (among many others), helped create powerful musical moments for children in the hospital.
You can check out all our past Bedstock videos on our YouTube channel.
12.
2014: Over 1,000 Mentorship matches supported
In 2013, Oregon Mentors awarded our program their most prestigious award for mentoring excellence, recognizing it for exceeding high standards of excellence and quality.
In response to this recognition, there was an increase in demand for JoyRx Mentors. Thankfully, we were ready to rise to the task — and create meaningful friendships for these families, because we know how important friendship is during a health journey.
13.
2014: Moved to our current JoyRx HQ location on Naito Parkway
14.
2015: Regina Ellis featured at TEDxPortland
Discussing the “Joy Effect,” Regina Ellis took to the stage in front of over three thousand attendees to discuss how joy changes lives, fuels innovation, and fosters creativity.
Her words continue to inspire our vision for the future.
15.
2015: JoyRx Mentor Melissa Digregorio recognized for the annual Oregon Governor’s Volunteer Award
The Oregon Governor’s Volunteer Award, issued each year, distinguishes individuals, programs, and organizations for creating positive change through volunteerism across the state. In 2015, JoyRx Mentor Melissa Digregorio was honored with the award for her generous dedication to the JoyRx Mentorship program.
16.
2016: First clinical trial with Legacy Health
Beginning in 2015, we proudly partnered with Randall Children’s Hospital and Legacy Research Institute on the first-ever clinical trial to measure and document the effects of customized music medicine on postoperative pediatric patients.
Led by Dr. Serene Perkins, MD, and Dr. Shaban Demirel, PhD, the results were published in Frontiers in Oncology in February 2018.
17.
2017: JoyRx wins an Effie Award
An Effie Award celebrates any and all forms of marketing that fuel a brand’s success. JoyRx won the Effie Award because of the innovative use of marketing in driving the success of that year’s Bedstock.
“Bedstock is an incredible showcase for the kids we have the privilege to serve and for our passionate belief that joy matters and music heals,” explained Regina Ellis. “By literally playing from bed, artists and their fans can join [JoyRx Music] in making a difference right now in the lives of children and teens in the fight of their lives against cancer and other devastating diagnoses.”
18.
2018: Over 10,000 kids and teens served in one year
2018 was a year of investment for JoyRx. We invested in enhanced professional training to keep our local staff current on best practices; launched music partnerships nationwide; revamped the Caring Cabin’s collection of games, movies, art supplies, and outdoor activities; and implemented new, rigorous assessments to better understand JoyRx Mentorship’s positive impact on both families and mentors.
Through this investment and the generosity of many amazing people dedicated to joy, we were able to serve more children than ever before. In 2018, we reached a milestone: delivering JoyRx to over 10,000 children nationwide.
19.
2018: Over 200,000 volunteer hours reached!
20.
2020: JoyRx Music Digital Live launches
Early in the COVID-19 crisis, JoyRx staff found that pediatric hospitals — facing staffing shortages and programming cuts due to the global pandemic — struggled to find engaging and meaningful activities for young patients.
We were uniquely positioned to meet that critical need, and our music team worked with families and hospital partners to create a new branch of music programming.
This new branch, Digital Live, initially complemented On Demand music offerings and soon evolved into its own distinct wing of the flagship program.
These Digital Live offerings included hospital CCTV concerts, virtual bedside interactions, and one-on-one music sessions at home or in the hospital, led by our skilled and talented JoyRx Music Specialists.
We had to embrace creativity, technology, and rigorous safety protocols to reach kids where they were — because joy couldn’t lie dormant in the lives of children who need it most.
Learn more about the type of interactions we foster through our JoyRx Music Digital Live services by reading our impact blog here.
21.
2020: Over 500 families visit the Caring Cabin
22.
2021: JoyRx Music available in 25 locations nationally
23.
2022: Launched second live music hub in Austin, Texas
JoyRx Music began serving Austin hospitals in 2018, reaching nearly 1,500 kids in seven Texas pediatric hospitals. With the rise in demand in the Lone Star State, JoyRx identified Austin as the location for our next bedside live music hub.
After years of progress and partnership with local hospitals and the business community, JoyRx Music amplified our service outreach and impact by hiring our organization’s first Texas-based staff, operating out of a downtown Austin office.
Several months later, in the fall of 2022, we began live bedside music service in Austin hospitals.
24.
2022: Over 20,000 kids and teens served in one year
The pivot to grow our music services during the COVID-19 pandemic proved invaluable to the healthcare facilities we partner with, creating joy-based interactions for children undergoing the stress of medical journeys during such an unprecedented event. The demand grew and we rose to meet that demand.
25.
2024: JoyRx Music available in over 50 locations nationally
On October 2, 2023, JoyRx launched Digital Live services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in New York City. This new team-up marked our fiftieth healthcare partnership and our seventh in the New York area.
Discover more about this significant milestone by reading our post on our impact blog.
26.
2024: Launched third live music hub in New York City, New York
The end of 2024 marked an exciting milestone for JoyRx Music as we expanded our services in New York City by launching live, bedside music programs.
The program launch includes two healthcare sites: The Brooklyn Hospital Center on October 30, 2024, and the Children’s Hospital at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University on November 20, 2024.
We discuss the launch in this article.
27.
2025: JoyRx honored with the Lee Steinberg Humanitarian Award at Super Bowl LIX
In recognition of 30 years of JoyRx programs and our trajectory of expansion into pediatric care facilities across the nation, Dr. Nicole F. Roberts presented the award to CEO Jack Pipkin.
“JoyRx is filling a critical gap in the arts and music programming,” said Dr. Roberts in her introduction of JoyRx. “Every JoyRx interaction is a way to meet children and families where they are.”
Learn more about this honor by reading our story here.
28.
2025: JoyRx available in over 20 US states
29.
2025: Over 250,000 children served in 30 years
We know that music, laughter, care, and connection belong in every single child’s life. Period.
This is especially true for children undergoing the stress of severe illness and hospitalizations. We know that a little bit of joy can go a long way.
That’s why we’re setting our goals even higher. With the rising demand for our services, we intend to meet the emotional needs of every seriously ill child in the United States.
Regardless of diagnosis, ability, language, location, age, or socioeconomic status, we are here for children who need joy now more than ever.
30.
2025: Over two million JoyRx interactions since our founding
It’s been an amazing, humbling, and heartfelt 30 years as an organization. We’re deeply grateful to the people who have helped us come this far — and we look forward to 30 more years (and beyond!) of bringing hope, empowerment, and joy to the children who need it more than ever.
Learn more about JoyRx’s thirty years of impact by visiting our anniversary page.
