Thirteen-year-old Evan Goldstein is a young author with a heart of gold and a mission to bring more Joy to kids in need. Evan celebrated his bar mitzvah at the end of October and is supporting JoyRx, the mission delivery of Children’s Cancer Association, as part of his service project.

Evan is dedicating all proceeds of his book, Basketball Kid, to JoyRx. To date, Evan has hosted four book stands in Portland and Hood River, Oregon. Determined to support his community, Evan made calls to local businesses to set up shop and, so far, has raised over five thousand dollars to support JoyRx programs.

Evan has several reasons for wanting to support JoyRx. He credits his older brother, Jack, for getting him started on this service project. As part of his bar mitzvah project, Jack raised money for JoyRx, too, and now his younger brother is following in his footsteps.

In addition, the Goldstein family has a long history with JoyRx. The Goldstein boys were introduced to JoyRx through their nanny, Bethy, who volunteered as a JoyRx Mentor.

Bethy was a mentor to a boy named Renvek, who quickly became friends with Evan as they did fun things together. This dear friend passed away when he was only six, however, and that loss left an impact on Evan — and a desire to help others.

Evan’s dedication is met with the support of the community, too. “All these stores have been very generous,” said Evan. “People who’ve donated have been very generous.”

We are so lucky to have such wonderful people supporting JoyRx programs! Learn more about Evan’s inspiring story with Portland news channel, KOIN.