Written by Cameron Matthews
Published by The Bluegrass Situation
The Children’s Cancer Association has been doing incredible work for nearly two decades, bringing joy to seriously ill kids and teens in the Pacific Northwest. They know that when it comes to getting a terminal or life-threatening diagnosis, there are very few things that can help.
There’s where CCA's program MyMusicRx comes in. The Portland, Ore.-based charity is focused on sharing music and laughter with patients and families affected by cancer.
‘Live From the Heart,’ the organization’s latest video series (sponsored by Breedlove Guitars), has brought some of music’s biggest names into the CCA offices and affiliated hospitals. Artists like Black Prairie, Frank Black of the Pixies and Rhett Miller are all contributing their voices to the cause — to kick cancer’s ass once and for all.
Recently, MyMusicRx hosted the incomparable Patti Smith and guitarist Lenny Kaye at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom to sing “Grateful.”
“I wrote it at a time of strife and I was thinking that things seemed a little bad. I thought about all the good things in life and the things I have to be grateful for,” Smith says in the video below.
MyMusicRx goes well beyond the PR efforts of many charities.
They’re on the ground, working directly with sick children every single day with an in-hospital program that includes bedside sing-a-longs led by trained music specialists, instrument lending from customized mobile music carts, hallway harmonics and concerts.
Hospital bound kids can even check out headphones, or recording equipment right from their bed.
See the full story and more videos here.
