The Benjamin Goldberg Playroom

Wendy and Benjamin Goldberg

Wendy and Benjamin Goldberg

Benjamin Goldberg of Virginia Beach was an exuberant boy who loved music and dancing. He was only 8 years old when he lost his life to a rare form of cancer.

Benjamin’s story continues thanks to his mother, Wendy Goldberg, who created a foundation in his honor. Today, his spirit lives on in a playroom named for him in CHKD’s new hematology and oncology inpatient unit.

A $100,000 donation from the Benjamin Goldberg Foundation helped create a place where patients can play and explore and feel like kids. They can also experience the restorative benefits of music therapy, yoga, and guided meditation, which were helpful to Benjamin during his battle with cancer.

Benjamin was diagnosed in 2013 with neuroblastoma, a cancer that grows in nerve tissues in several different areas of the body. He was known for tapping into music to find solace during his journey, his ever-present headphones transporting him to a place of calm.

He was a kid who made an impression on everyone. Hannah Gerloff, a nurse at the Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at CHKD, said his spot-on renditions of Michael Jackson dances and his boisterous, fun-loving nature were unforgettable: “He lived life to the fullest. He never let cancer get him down. Even on his last day in clinic, he was in his recliner waiting on his platelets, playing and fussing at me in typical Ben fashion.”

Wendy, president of the accounting firm W.C. Goldberg & Co. in Virginia Beach, is a longtime volunteer for CHKD, and former chair of the hospital’s Development Advisory Board. She says the idea to help other kids and their families surfaced shortly before Benjamin died in 2018, when she noticed he had a wad of dollar bills in a new wallet someone had given him. She asked what he wanted to do with the money, and he said help families of other CHKD patients. They gave the money to CHKD’s long-time partner in family support, the Ronald McDonald House.

That gesture inspired Wendy to create the foundation in her son’s memory. When she heard CHKD wanted to purchase infusion backpacks that would allow some cancer patients to receive drug therapy in the comfort of their homes, the foundation donated $20,000 toward the cost.

Thanks to the support and dedication of the foundation’s board of directors, The Benjamin Goldberg Playroom was the next project. It’s a place of music and light and toys where child life specialists and music therapists can help children find peace through music, dance, and play. There’s also a “Peace Out Portal” on the foundation’s website where kids can watch videos of relaxing body movements and listen to music that has helped others through illness.

Wendy doesn’t know what project the foundation will take on next, but she knows she will always evaluate opportunities by asking herself this question: Is this something that would have helped Ben?

This guiding force, and a loving mother, keep Benjamin’s spirit alive while helping other children.