What makes someone a hero?
That’s the question that lingered even after the credits rolled at our special donor appreciation screening of Disney Pixar’s Toy Story 5. Surrounded by donors and their families, we celebrated the extraordinary community that makes hope possible for patients and families at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford every day.
We were honored to welcome Krissy Cababa and Jamie Apoderado from Pixar for the evening. Before the film, Krissy joined 15-year-old Foundation Patient Hero Jocelyn for an inspiring conversation about heroes. (Both are pictured above.)
As a young child, Jocelyn lived with life-threatening food allergies until she participated in a clinical trial at the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford. Today, she’s free from the fear of an allergic reaction and has turned her experience into the graphic novel Conquering Allergies, encouraging other children to face their own challenges with confidence and optimism.
Reflecting on the many kinds of heroes in our lives, from beloved movie characters to patients, families, care team members, researchers, and compassionate supporters, Krissy shared a simple but powerful message:
“Everyone can be a hero!”
We couldn’t agree more.
Every gift to Packard Children’s Hospital and the pediatric and obstetric research programs at the Stanford School of Medicine helps write another hopeful chapter for children like Jocelyn. Our donors make breakthrough discoveries possible, support compassionate care, and transform the lives of our patients and their families.