Jennifer put a smile on the faces of patients and staff during a visit to John Hunter Children’s Hospital in Newcastle this week.

The Newcastle-raised model was in town as part of her newly-appointed role as a Hunter Children’s Research Foundation patron.

Hawkins said researchers were doing so much to help sick children with serious illnesses, and she wanted to use her profile to bring awareness to the medical research cause.

The Hunter Children’s Research Foundation, formed in 1996, celebrated its $1 million fundraising milestone last year and recently awarded a record total of grants for a wide variety of research projects.