Photo: Kyle Bray/ WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Despite the rain, thousands attended the 33rd annual Jimmy Fund Clinic Summer Festival at Franklin Park Zoo on Sept. 13.
"We knew families would come," Director of Patient and Family Programs Lisa Scherber said. "As soon as 11 o'clock came, the families were lined up, and the kids had their little rain boots and their rain jackets and smiles on their faces. It has been such a beautiful day."
Kids had the chance to meet princesses and superheroes, have their faces painted and even got to check out the zoo's newest penguin enclosure.
The festival takes place in September, during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Many of the children and families in attendance have been directly impacted by pediatric cancer.
"Our son Leo is currently in treatment over at the Jimmy Fund, so to be able to come out here and spend it with all the other people that are going through the same thing as us and having the day for them where they can be kids and walk around is a great thing," Jason, a parent at the festival, said.
"It's outdoors, and that's really important for our kids [with] compromised immune systems," Scherber said. "This is a really safe place for them."
WBZ NewsRadio's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.