Each year the Children’s Cancer Association (CCA) recognizes 12 local children and teens for their outstanding heroism in the face of serious illness.

Chemo Pal Mentor, Lisa Fogg, is quick to share just how lucky she feels to be matched with five-year-old Annabel through the Chemo Pal Mentor Program.

Veda is a charming young talent who is truly wise beyond her years. Both compassionate and polite, she’ll greet you with a handshake, a warm smile, and ask how you’re doing today.

CCA’s Chemo Pal Mentor Program provides kids with a caring, trusted, adult friend to look forward to seeing during treatments, and someone in their corner when they need it most. Chemo Pal mentors play games, listen to music, share hobbies, or simply offer the comfort of companionship, relieving the anxiety, loneliness, and isolation experienced by children in treatment.

Seventeen-year-old Jacob Daskalakis has a contagious smile and a zest for life that is apparent the moment you meet him. He loves riding his dirt bike, running, cheering on the Portland Trail Blazers, and making others laugh.

The holiday season is over, but we aren’t done celebrating quite yet!

If you want to strike up a conversation with Xavier Jackson, just ask him about trains. This friendly nine-year-old will be happy to tell you everything you ever wanted to know, from the different types of engines to the history of locomotion. (It should come as no surprise that he wants to be a conductor someday.)

Ask his friends and family to describe Jesse, and one word always comes up: generous. This thoughtful 18-year-old loves to put others before himself, even though he’s the one who’s fighting leukemia.

Make way for Jasmine “Jazzy” Soria-Pons! She may be just three years old, but this sassy little girl is already running the show. “One night at the hospital, she got all the other kids out of bed and led them down the hall in an impromptu parade,” laughed her mom Monique. “She’s just a natural born leader, I guess.”

Henry is a good-natured three-year-old with a serious thing for superheroes and garbage trucks. He faces every day with boundless energy and joy—in fact, the first thing he says when he wakes up is, “Yay! It’s morning time!”

Holly is a sweet, quiet third-grader who loves the color purple, practicing the piano, singing, riding her bike, and playing board games with her parents and four siblings.

At 13, Aaron was already a Renaissance man. He played the alto sax. He sang in the choir. He’d even trained in ballroom dancing. And in the midst of it all, he battled leukemia.

Asher is a super friendly kid with a smile that’s guaranteed to melt your heart. He loves to dance, play with his siblings (all nine of them!), and sing the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” song with anyone who cares to join in.

A tennis ball sized lump on the head of two-year-old, Graham, led to a diagnosis of Choroid Plexus Carcinoma.

Mason, diagnosed at just three years old, is an adorable boy with a lot of energy. At times, it was difficult for his mom, Diane, to focus on talking to the doctors while taking care of her seriously ill son. 

Caitlyn’s mom, Shawna, talks with 105.1 The BUZZ about her daughter and 2013 CCA Hero, Caitlyn.

Sophia’s mother talked with 105.1 The Buzz’s Daria sharing the profound impact a Chemo Pal Mentor had on their lives in the midst of months in the hospital, even as Sophia was put on life support.

FOX 12’s Amy Troy meets the parents of a little ball of energy named Christopher.

Mitch from 105.1 The Buzz finds out from Tim and his mom, Susan, what it’s like to get a leukemia diagnosis as a teen. Their lives changed in an instant, but Tim was set up with a specially matched Chemo Pal to help him through it all.

Tigard third grader Holly Bruno loves practicing songs on the piano, singing, and playing board games with her parents and siblings. She was a typical 8-year-old girl until August of last year, when pain on the side of her face led to a diagnosis of a type of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma.