The Sunshine Kids Foundation was founded by Rhoda Tomasco in 1982 while she was serving as a volunteer in the pediatric cancer unit of a hospital in Houston, Texas. After seeing the loneliness and depression among children during their extended hospital treatments, Rhoda had a vision to provide these young cancer patients with opportunities to participate in positive group activities which promoted self-esteem, personal accomplishment and just plain old fashioned fun! Today, that vision has been realized many times over, as thousands of children from hospitals across the country have reaped the benefits of The Sunshine Kids Foundation’s many programs and national and regional events. Funded by personal contributions, corporations and foundations, the Sunshine Kids continues, as it has since its inception, to provide all of its activities completely free of charge to the children and their families.