Kids celebrate Pig Day at Dana-Farber

Staffers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund Clinic were decked out in pink snouts and corkscrew tails yesterday as the organization marked its 10th annual Pig Day, a department-wide party for pediatric patients that is all about putting a smile on their faces.

“We look forward to it all year,” said Maria Joffrion, 36, of Leominster, whose 12-year-old son, Tommy, is a Dana-Farber patient.

“Tommy has an appointment today; he’s starting treatment soon, but having Pig Day to look forward to means the world to him,” said Joffrion, who has celebrated several Pig Days with her son as he’s battled both brain cancer and leukemia at the Jimmy Fund Clinic. Tommy, she said, was diagnosed with cancer as a 2-year-old.

The Joffrions said they’re friends of the founder of Pig Day — a little girl named Hailey who received treatment at Dana-Farber in 2008.

Martha Young, DanaFarber’s pediatric oncology program manager, said staffers decided to throw a pig-themed party after Hailey reminded them that March 1 is National Pig Day.

“We learned that pigs were one of her loves and one of her favorite things,” Young said.

Ever since, Pig Day at the Jimmy Fund clinic means cake, balloons, costumes and goodie bags for patients.

“They take every chance they get to celebrate and have fun,” Young said, “and create happiness and spread that wherever they are.”

StaffphotobyangelaRowlingS PARTY ANIMALS: Dana Farber’s Martha Young, left, helps throw Pig Day for patients such as Tommy, 12, above with his mom, Maria Joffrion, and Hamda Al Qubaisi, 11, far right, who crafts a piggy bank, right, at the Jimmy Fund Clinic.