The Sunbeam Foundation was established in 2005 with the aim of spreading hope and finding a cure for rare and underfunded childhood bone cancers. The Sunbeam Foundation's origins, however, can be traced back five years earlier, when singer-songwriter Brad Wolfe's life path was forever altered by unexpected tragedy. It was in May of 2001, while Brad was a junior at Stanford Universtiy and planning a career in politics, that one of his best girl friends since high school, Sara LaBoskey, confided to him that she had been diagnosed with a rare and often deadly form of pediatric bone cancer called Ewing's sarcoma. Upon hearing this news, Brad committed himself to helping Sara in her difficult fight. He turned to his "closet" hobby of songwriting and penned a song of hope for her. One night, Brad gathered a group of Sara's friends together at his parent's house and surprised Sara with his new composition, "Sara's Got a Sunbeam." The song became an anthem during Sara's illness and, for that evening, feelings of love and friendship overshadowed the heartache of Sara's disease.

As Sara's condition worsened and she became bedridden, Brad visited Sara in the hospital frequently. On one occasion, Brad brought his guitar and, at Sara's request, performed a bedside concert of his original songs. As Brad played, Sara's spirits markedly improved. For those few moments, her pain actually seemed to diminish. Brad was grateful and was struck that his music had the power to make a difference in Sara's life. Thereafter, bedside concerts became a regular scene at the hospital.

Sara passed away on July 28, 2002 at the age of 21. Her fight against Ewing's sarcoma was difficult, yet it was also inspiring. Sara's unwavering optimism and her love of life moved not only Brad, but all those who knew her. In Sara's memory, Brad decided to pursue a new life path: he made a commitment to share his music with the world and to use his talent to make a difference in the lives of young people like Sara who are engaged in a fight against cancer.

With newfound inspiration, Brad put together a talented five-piece band collectively known as Brad Wolfe and the Moon, recorded an album, and started thinking about a way he could use album proceeds to benefit young adults, like Sara, faced with pediatric cancer. When he shockingly discovered that there were no existing fundraising organizations that dealt specifically with Ewing's sarcoma, Brad conceived of the idea for the Sunbeam Foundation, named after the song he had written for Sara. Along with the support of Sara's family and large number of close friends, the Sunbeam Foundation began working toward its goal of spreading hope and finding a cure for pediatric bone cancer.