The lobby of St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside was hopping with excitement as young patients were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Easter Bunny, portrayed by comedian, television host, and actor Nick Cannon on Monday.
The Easter “Egg-stravaganza” was hosted by Nick Cannon’s and Alyssa Scott’s Zen’s Light Foundation and included face painting, clowns, and Easter-themed trinkets and treats like cupcakes and lollipops provided by Jador Choc and Event Planning.
Before the big arrival, kids lined up at the tables with the aid of their caretakers to pick up their Easter bounty while one of the clowns entertained them with an Easter puppet.
When Cannon, dressed in his Easter bunny outfit, arrived, the young patients were as excited as the adults as Cannon made the rounds to greet the children before settling in for photo-ops.
Cannon has been visiting St. Mary’s Hospital for Children for years, brightening the days of the long-term care children. He also serves on St. Mary’s board of directors and told QNS that visiting the children always felt “amazing.”
“It really just gives me so much purpose,” Cannon said. “It puts everything in a proper perspective. And just like the fact that [St.Mary’s] has welcomed me into this family and to this community for so many years, it has really been a blessing.”
Cannon is no stranger to heartache. His son Zen died of brain cancer in 2021 when he was only five months old. In June 2022, Cannon and Scott founded the Zen’s Light Foundation in memory of their son. The foundation is dedicated to supporting children with illnesses and their families, providing resources, raising awareness about childhood illnesses, including childhood cancer, and creating moments of joy like the Easter event.
Cannon shared that the foundation was “going amazing.”
“To be able to do things like this each and every season, we get a chance to do it and dedicate it to my son Zen and Zen’s Life Foundation, really being a parent who’s been in this scenario where your child is in the hospital, I can relate,” Cannon said. “We have some synergies amongst myself and a lot of the caregivers and the parents. It fulfills everyone’s spirit.”
St. Mary’s Executive Vice President, Sean Lally, told QNS it was a “wonderful” event.
“Nick Cannon has been a great friend and longtime supporter of our kids and staff, and welcoming him back to St. Mary’s alongside Spring is a great way to spend a day,” Lally said.
Claire Mahon has been a recreational therapist at St. Mary’s for ten years and said the event brought a lot of enjoyment to the patients and the staff alike.
“Just to see that sense of community, especially somebody so big and famous like Nick Cannon. It’s nice to see the support that we have here at St. Mary’s,” Mahon said.
Tom attended the event with his 14-month-old foster daughter, who was going home on Tuesday after an eight-month-long hospital stay.
Tom had high praise for the hospital.
“The staff has been great. The nurses have been excellent,” Tom said. “Everyone’s [is] making sure we know how to take care of her from her medical needs, but also just very friendly and lovely and clearly care for the kids.”
He had also read up about Nick Cannon and his son.
“It’s so sad, and for someone to give back to the community and help families and kids, it’s amazing,” Tom said.
St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children is the only provider of pediatric long-term and rehabilitative care in the region and has been the primary provider of long-term and rehabilitative care for New York’s most critically ill and injured children since the 1870s.
St. Mary’s Healthcare System is one of only a handful of organizations nationwide dedicated to providing intensive rehabilitation, specialized care, and education to children with special needs and life-limiting conditions.
