Photos: Cancer Kids Relax at Elks Carnival

For a few hours on a recent Sunday afternoon, children afflicted with cancer and their families took their minds off the disease and instead focused on fun, courtesy of the .

It was the annual carnival held for pediatric oncology patients supported by the Orange County Foundation for Oncology Children and Families held May 20.

Here's more from Elks publicist Hal Mattson:

Upon entering the Lodge, the children and their families gazed upon a lodge ceiling transformed into a sky of floating balloons.

All children and their families were provided with a t-shirt with figures of two children holding hands and saying, “We Have Friends at The Mission Viejo Elks Lodge.”

The children quickly found the lodge patio and the colorful tent canopies where they immersed themselves into typical carnival games such as ring toss, bean bag toss, milk bottle bash, yellow ducks floating in water, etc. At each of ten game stations, each child won a prize for participation in that game. The Children also enjoyed a bounce house and crafts.

The Laguna Woods Senior Clown Alley Group made balloon figures and painted faces in the Lodge game room.

All attendees enjoyed typical carnival food:

• lemonade
• snow cones
• cotton candy
• chicken nuggets
• corn dogs
• french fries

In addition to game prizes and upon their departure, each child picked out a special gift from a selection of DVDs, stuffed animals, games, cuddle blankets and craft sets.

The event was organized by Elks Lodge member Stephanie Bongartz who late last year held a fund raising dinner at the Elks Lodge to help pay for this event. Additional funds and gifts for this event were derived from the Elks Lodge Bingo operation, Bongo Ink of Lake Forest and other fund raising events involving individual Elks Lodge members.

Seventy-Nine volunteers including fifteen youth from Saddleback Valley area schools helped run the event.