Family House Celebrates Easter and Bobby the Bunny's 30 Years of Service

Along Mission Bay Boulevard North, a short walk from UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Bobby Thomas showed up Thursday in a bunny suit for the 30th consecutive year. Thomas, a 6-foot-3-inch butcher at Andronico's Market in the Inner Sunset, has made the Easter egg hunt at the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House a personal tradition since 1996, transforming a holiday visit into one of the nonprofit's most anticipated annual events.

Family House, founded in 1981, provides free lodging, meals, and peer support to families of children receiving cancer treatment and other serious medical care at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. Qualifying families must live more than 50 miles from San Francisco; many fall at or below the low-income threshold set by UCSF. The Mission Bay facility can accommodate roughly 350 people, about 80 families, at one time, and it runs at nearly 100% occupancy. More than 2,000 families pass through in a year.

The math those families are spared is significant. Lodging in San Francisco runs hundreds of dollars a night, and pediatric cancer treatment often stretches across weeks or months. Family House eliminates that cost entirely, letting parents focus on their child's care rather than a mounting hotel bill or a punishing daily commute from outside the Bay Area.

CEO Katherine Thompson, speaking at the Easter event alongside donors and volunteers, called Thomas's milestone well-timed. His 30-year anniversary as "Bobby the Bunny" lands exactly as the Mission Bay facility marks its 10th year, a double celebration that prompted her to say the organization is "kind of over the moon today."

Thomas reflected on why he keeps returning. "It's amazing. It's just, it's a thrill every year. I just thank God for the ability, the desire, the joy, the energy," he said. Even as he steps back from his day job behind the butcher counter, he has made clear the bunny suit stays in active rotation.

His volunteer work reaches well beyond Easter. Thomas has spent three decades recruiting through his professional network, telling customers and friends alike that financial capacity is no barrier to making a difference. "You don't have to have a bunch of money to volunteer your service and make a difference," he said.

Family House is funded entirely by community donations. Its 44th Annual Gala in March drew nearly 400 guests to The Conservatory at One Sansome Street and raised $1.2 million, proceeds that sustain the free wraparound services keeping the building open every day of the year.

Thomas has his next fundraiser already scheduled: "Indestructible Kids" on Saturday, April 25, at St. Anne of the Sunset Church Hall at 850 Judah Street in San Francisco. For those who want to support Family House through volunteering or direct donations, information is available at familyhouseinc.org.