![\"UCSF](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/5BBBAED2A23C0824D9F1534889B73769.jpg\")
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OAKLAND, Calif. – To donate, click here <\/a>or text “KTVU” to 34984<\/p>\n On this Giving Tuesday<\/a> 2025, KTVU Fox 2 is once again partnering with UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospitals to raise money for children, like 9-year-old cancer survivor Penny DeBoer.<\/p>\n Penny was 13 months old when she was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in January 2018. Neuroblastoma is a type of childhood cancer and Penny had an aggressive tumor. Her mom, Andrea Alford, said UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital Oakland became a second home for her family.<\/p>\n “We came in for various symptoms definitely and we definitely didn\u2019t expect it would be cancer,” Alford said.<\/p>\n Alford and her husband were Penny\u2019s foster parents at the time of her diagnosis. Because Penny was a ward of the state, she was referred to UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospitals where no child, regardless of their family\u2019s insurance or ability to pay, is turned away.<\/p>\n “It’s very difficult to be a foster kid in the hospital because your parents and foster parents are not the ones making medical decisions for you, a judge is,” Alford said.<\/p>\n Months spent at hospital <\/p>\n Penny initially had six rounds of chemotherapy and months later, her tumor was removed. She also went through immunotherapy treatment. Alford recalls spending the first 198 days of that year in the hospital. They celebrated family birthdays and holidays there.<\/p>\n Penny was officially adopted one week before a bone marrow transplant.<\/p>\n “The judge was like, \u2018I’ve never seen so many people.\u2019 We had some nurses and doctors come to the hearing,” she said.<\/p>\n Living at the hospital during the holidays was both heartbreaking and special.<\/p>\n “The hospital really did what they could to make you still feel like you could experience celebration and joy and family togetherness,” she said. “<\/p>\n In December 2019, Penny returned to the hospital on Christmas Eve for scans.<\/p>\n “She came in her Christmas pajamas\u2026 She got a present from Santa at the hospital,” Alford said. “Our oncologist called us that night to say she was cancer free.”<\/p>\n Penny went through a two-year trial to prevent the cancer from coming back, but she has extensive life-long side effects and disabilities from her cancer journey, including permanent vision loss. She visits UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospitals regularly for appointments in various departments.<\/p>\n \u2018Lifesaving\u2019 donations <\/p>\n “If you make a donation to the children’s hospital, you are making a donation that is actually lifesaving\u2026 you cannot go wrong,” Alford said.<\/p>\n Penny, now 9, loves school. She likes art, reading, golf, and The Golden State Valkyries.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all the little things the family is thankful for because of the life-saving care Penny received.<\/p>\n “There’s nothing as difficult as watching a little one suffer from cancer,” Alford said. “Even though we were overwhelmed, stressed, heartbroken and exhausted, I felt like we had extra family here at the hospital holding us up.”<\/p>\n Alford said she\u2019s most grateful for hope.<\/p>\n “She was infused with life, and we were infused with hope,” she added. “I’m most grateful that she’s alive with me and the hope we have for the future, which is in part because of this place.”<\/p>\n The Source: UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, family of 9-year-old cancer survivor Penny DeBoer.<\/p>\n Giving Day<\/a>Oakland<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND, Calif. – To donate, click here or text “KTVU” to 34984 On this Giving Tuesday 2025, KTVU…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,1184,45336,45335,100,143,145,144,1181],"class_list":{"0":"post-78599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-alameda-county","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-giving-day","11":"tag-mornings","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-oakland","14":"tag-oakland-headlines","15":"tag-oakland-news","16":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}