Their cancer may have been there on the inside, fighting their young bodies, but for a little while yesterday, 38 children from across the country found a sunny refuge at Queen's Surf Beach.

It was time for surfing, not chemotherapy. Time for laughter instead of radiation. Time for a vacation — a week in Hawai'i — that many of them had only dreamed of until The Sunshine Kids stepped in.

The Sunshine Kids is a non-profit group based in Houston that helps children with cancer by providing them with free group activities. Established in 1982, the Sunshine Kids provides a variety of programs and events for kids who are receiving cancer treatments in hospitals across North America.

"It's a week away from the doctor, chemotherapy," said volunteer Nick LaCarra. "It's a time for them to just be who they are."

It's that sentiment that led Rhoda Tomasco to start Sunshine Kids. She was a volunteer in a pediatric cancer unit of a Houston hospital. She decided then to organize fun outings for the kids to promote self-esteem and personal accomplishment.

"My main focus was to get kids out of the hospital," Tomasco said. "I wanted them to get out of the hospital so they can forget about treatment."

The week's worth of activities is a week James Ragan doesn't have to think about osteosarcoma — bone cancer — or his relapse last year with lung cancer.

Instead, he can think of girls in bikinis and swimming and not losing his swimsuit in the surf.

The 15-year-old Corpus Cristi, Texas, teenager said his experience with Sunshine Kids has been great. Making new friends. Doing new things. It all works with his one-day-at-a-time focus.

"I'm doing pretty well," said Ragan, who had to give up tennis when his cancer ate away at his knee, requiring him to have a knee replacement. Now he plays golf. "It's a positive outlet for me."

Ragan, however, is not one to feel sorry for himself for very long. For his 14th birthday, he organized a fundraiser that netted more than $40,000 for the Oncology and Hematology Unit at Driscoll Children's Hospital and the Pediatric Clinic at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. For this year's birthday, he hosted a fundraising golf tournament, with proceeds to benefit cancer research. He raised $112,000.

"Cancer really humbled me and taught me to live every day to the fullest," Ragan said. "I tend to be a bit on the cocky side, and cancer's taught me about other people's pain and about their feelings.

"I really do believe in destiny, in fate. Maybe I was given this for a reason. Maybe it's to help others. Doing my part really feels good."

Most of the teenagers don't know their prognosis, and Ragan doesn't want to know his.

For some of the teenagers in the group in Hawai'i this week, their doctors delayed their treatment so they could come to Hawai'i, Tomasco said. Others went through surgery earlier so they could participate.

For years, she brought Hawai'i teens to the Mainland. Four years ago, she started bringing Mainland teens to Hawai'i, Tomasco said. During their stay here, the kids will learn Hawaiian culture, hear live Hawaiian music, and today they'll be going to a picnic on the North Shore put on by Honolulu lifeguards.

Each day, there's a different activity. Sailing and snorkeling, the water park and a chance to swim with dolphins at Sea Life Park. Much of the food and events are either donated outright or steeply discounted by local businesses, LaCarra said.

Yesterday was the first time 17-year-old Zach Infante ever surfed. The New Jersey boy had never wet a toe in the Pacific until yesterday. But today he has a nice rash on his chest from the four or five waves he caught.

"I called my mom yesterday and told her the water was actually blue," Infante said. "It's so cool."

It's been nearly two years since doctors delivered the blow that changed Infante's life. He was diagnosed with Stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the immune system. With six months of intensive treatment, Infante was able to beat back the cancer. This May will mark his second year of being cancer-free.

"You have cancer. Cancer doesn't have you," Infante said. "Just remember: Don't give up. There are lots of people out there who care, and they want to make your life as easy as possible. You are not alone."