Burlingame-based Kids & Art Foundation will hold a chalk art competition at its free Chalk2Heal festival Saturday, Sept. 26, in San Francisco.

The event runs from noon to 3 p.m. at Sunset Dunes Park, where Judah Street meets the Great Highway.

Participants who reserve a chalk space through a sponsorship donation will compete for awards in three categories: joy, healing and childhood. A 3-by-3-foot space costs $25 to $100, a 6-by-6-foot space costs $100 to $250, and unlimited space costs $250, according to a press release from the foundation. Proceeds support Kids & Art's free art programs for children with cancer.

Admission is free and open to all ages.

The foundation describes the festival as its inaugural Chalk2Heal, held during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September. Beyond the competition, the event will feature live music, giant bubble-making, face painting and featured artwork from local artists along what organizers call a two-mile stretch of the oceanfront park. Chalk will be provided to all participants.

Kids & Art is headquartered at 1443 Howard Ave. in Burlingame and operates programs in 27 hospitals nationwide, according to Bay Area Parent. In 2025, the foundation sent more than 6,786 art kits to 55 care centers across 28 states and had nearly 1,200 patients and siblings participate in workshops. More than 40 professional artists and 1,150 volunteers contributed time to the programs.

Founder Purvi Shah, a San Mateo resident, started the organization in 2008 after her son Amaey was diagnosed with leukemia at age 3 in 2005. Amaey died at age 9. Shah stepped down as CEO in 2023 but remains on the board.

"It definitely helped us, psychologically and emotionally, keeping us all together," Shah told Bay Area Parent in an Aug. 26 profile about how art sustained her family during her son's treatment.

In the foundation's own surveys, 87 to 92 percent of participants said art kits decreased their stress and anxiety and elevated their mood.

Sponsorship spaces can be reserved at secure.givelively.org/donate/kids-art-foundation/chalk2heal-2026. Questions about volunteering or sponsoring can be directed to [email protected].