Young patients and their families had an opportunity to meet Santa Claus at the holiday party on Dec. 11. (photo courtesy of Cedars-Sinai)

More than 50 young cancer patients and their families celebrated the season with their physicians, nurses and other health care professionals at the Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s oncology/hematology holiday party on Dec. 11.

The party featured a dancing gingerbread couple, Santa Claus and Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders who got the crowd dancing. Children and their siblings had their faces painted and went home with kits to make gingerbread houses. But the best part was meeting other families, said Benjamin Castillo, whose 5-year-old daughter, Camilla, is undergoing cancer treatments.

“It’s nice to see other people going through the same thing we are going through,” Benjamin Castillo said. “We are meeting people in the same situation and it’s good to see our daughter playing with other kids.”

The community came together to support the annual party. The party venue was sponsored by the Beverly Hills Police Department – officers visit patients at Guerin Children’s every month and sponsored the venue at Roxbury Park Community center. Sodexo and Love Catering donated the food.

As they have done for 20 years, students at El Segundo High School donated bags of new toys.

The party was an especially happy occasion for members of the Guerin Children’s health care team, who usually see the children in the hospital.

“It brings out the inner child in me,” said Dr. Leo Mascarenhas, Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s pediatric oncologist. “When I see all these kids having so much fun, it’s one of the reasons why I do what I do so that kids can live their lives as children.”

For information, visit cedars-sinai.org.