In June 1988, three-year-old Don-Don was diagnosed with leukaemia and admitted to the Children's Cancer Ward of the Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin. As the child fought his battle with the disease, his mother kept a daily bedside vigil. It was from those days that the seeds of the Children's Cancer Foundation were sown.

In the spring of 1989, this mother, together with a group of dedicated doctors, nurses, social workers, clinical psychologists, parents of children with cancer and concerned individuals, formed a committee which was subsequently inaugurated in November of the same year, under the patronage of Lady Ford, as the Children's Cancer Fund for the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Fund served only the University's teaching hospital, the Prince of Wales Hospital.

It soon became obvious that providing help to only one hospital was not enough, and two years later, having raised $19.3 million in donations for the ongoing work at the Prince of Wales Hospital, the charity became independent of the Chinese University. Renamed the Children's Cancer Foundation, the organization was re-inaugurated in November 1991, under the continued patronage of Lady Ford, as a government-registered charity.

In the wake of Lady Ford's departure from Hong Kong in December 1993, the Chief Secretary, the Hon. Mrs. Anson Chan, became the Foundation's new Patron.