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HomeEventsCourageous Kids Day 2026 - Volunteer opportunity

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Courageous Kids Day 2026 - Volunteer opportunity

About this event


Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10 is the 37th annual Courageous Kids Day and we ask your help.

Courageous Kids Day is a ‘day off from cancer’ for 400 or so kids with cancer and their families.  Held at Great America in their private event space, the park will provide admission, parking, space, characters, lunch.  There will be  any events, but the important part for us is that we will be, once again, providing family portraits for these families.   

This may be the only family portrait these families ever get. So we need about a dozen volunteers.  You’ll be divided into 3 teams and will spend 4 hours doing great, fun portraits.   If you have experience, we definitely want you, but if you don’t, please volunteer anyway.    We have lots of jobs and you will get to help with posing and will learn a lot.   

Commitment is from 10 am until 3:30 pm.

If interested, or questions, please email Laura Marshall at iamlauramarshall@yahoo.com.


The goal of Courageous Kids Day is to provide an amazing experience for these young cancer patients & their families and fund groundbreaking pediatric cancer research. 

"Building a Brighter Future Through Pediatric Cancer Research"

 

What is Courageous Kids Day?

This amazing event provides “a day away from cancer” free of charge to young cancer patients (children & teens) and their families from throughout the state of California.  Courageous Kids was founded in 1989 in partnership with California’s Great America and takes place each year on Mother’s Day.  It’s an extra-special, fun-packed day for the courageous kids and their families, allowing them to forget some of that stress and have fun together; a day of enjoying amusement rides, a picnic lunch, arts & crafts, family portraits, activities and photographs with local celebrities.

ACS's Courageous Kids Day is celebrating its 37th year this coming Mother's Day. This day was started as a "day off from cancer" for children with cancer and their families. Great America has hosted this wonderful event every year, providing the event space, free tickets, lunch, staff, and so much more to the families of 300-400 children each year. The event is mostly staffed by about 200 volunteers, many of whom have been volunteering for many many years. There are lots of fun activities happening for the kids and their families, including celebrities, sand castle building, games, music, arts & crafts, face painting, quilt production, food, fun, and.... and this is where we come in.... FAMILY PORTRAITS!

We need your help. We need about 20 photographers to volunteer for this incredible event. Most will be in teams of 3 or 4, doing professional family portraits, and a few will be doing candid photographs around the event venue. Whether you're a seasoned professional or a beginner, this is a very rewarding event. If you're new to the profession please feel free to volunteer. We'll be grouping less experienced photographers with more experienced, so everyone will be able to participate and learn.

Thanks to Bay Photo for printing our family portraits every year. We couldn't do this without them.

Each attending family will be entitled to a free professional family portrait. In many cases, this is the only portrait this family has, or may ever have. It means so much to the families, and you'll feel their love and appreciation all day.

Candid photos are used by the ACS for fundraising for future events. This event is completely underwritten by the community.

 

Registration


In order to participate, you must RSVP by Tuesday May 5, 2026, 9:00 AM. Please email Laura Marshall at iamlauramarshall@yahoo.com.

Laura Marshall is hosting the event. Laura will get back to you with questions and to confirm your participation. Do NOT show up unless you've been confirmed, as you will not be admitted. If you have questions, please email Laura Marshall.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please only volunteer if you are really committed to being there. This is a big event and we need everyone there who says they'll be there. Thank you.

Date and Time

Sunday, May 10, 2026, 10:00 AM until 3:30 PM

Location

Great America
Courageous Kids Website
4701 Great America Parkway
Santa Clara, CA  
USA

Event Contact(s)

Laura Marshall

Category

Community Outreach

Registration Info

Registration is not Required