Ukandu

Mission

Ukandu’s mission is to bring hope, joy, and connection to communities impacted by childhood cancer. 

Ukandu creates safe spaces where kids with cancer and their families can laugh, connect and feel like themselves again. We recognize that cancer impacts the entire family, and we exist to provide a respite from the physical, emotional and financial toll of a childhood cancer diagnosis.

Bottom Line

For 40 years, Ukandu has helped children with cancer and their families across Oregon and Southwest Washington find hope, joy, and connection beyond the hospital. With the opening of The Loft, our new innovative year-round family resource center in Portland, we’re expanding that support through free mental health services, affinity groups, family programs, creative activities, and spaces where children, siblings, caregivers, and families can find community and belonging. Every program and service is 100% free of charge, ensuring no family has to navigate childhood cancer alone.

Quote

“If Ukandu isn’t just the greatest place, I don’t know what is. It’s where you come and you feel normal; it’s where you come and you find family, it’s where you come and you reunite with friends you’ve had for years. No matter if your home changes or your school changes, no matter if your doctor or your hospital changes, no matter if friends change, or whatever life circumstance you have happening on the outside, you get to come to Ukandu and be normal. You get to have a place of unity, of love, of life, of laughter. It’s the best thing.”

- UKANDU Participant

Gift Matching

Ukandu Board of Directors: $2500 match

NW Public Affairs: $2500 match

The Beidler Family: $2500 match

Partner(s)

We’re incredibly grateful to our 2026 Give!Guide partners for helping make this year’s campaign a success!

A special thank-you to The Ukandu Board of Directors for coming together to offer a $2,500 collective matching gift, NW Public Affairs for generously matching $2,500 in donations, and The Beidler Family for providing an additional $2,500 matching gift. Your generosity helps inspire our community to give and makes every donation go further.

Ukandu is also proud to stand alongside The Dougy Center as an aligned nonprofit in the Portland area, sharing a commitment to supporting children and families through life’s most challenging experiences.