The city of Atlanta united this fall to support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Finding cures. Saving children.®
Last month, the ninth annual St. Jude Evening of Hope gala was held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and raised more than $700,000. This is a 60th-anniversary celebration of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. When the doors opened on Feb. 4, 1962, St. Jude became the first fully integrated children’s hospital in the South to defy racial inequities in healthcare. Thanks to generous donors, St. Jude continues to deliver on its promise that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live.
Approximately 400 guests attended the event, which included an immersive experience that visualized the history and global strides taken by St. Jude, cocktail hour, dinner, live and silent auctions and remarks by a St. Jude patient family and Kera Wright, CFO of ALSAC (the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude).
In recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® hosted an in-person St. Jude Walk/Run at The Battery on Saturday, September 17. More than 1,500 Atlanta-area supporters joined forces to run or walk a 5K while raising crucial funds to advance research and treatment by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This year’s event raised more than $324,000.
“For more than a decade, people across the country have united for the St. Jude Walk/Run to help St. Jude families. Every mile walked brings us one step closer to ending childhood cancer,” says Richard C. Shadyac Jr., president and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Generous supporters of fundraising events like the St. Jude Walk/Run are taking strides toward realizing the goals of the six-year, $12.9 billion St. Jude strategic plan, such as increasing global investments to impact more of the 400,000 kids around the world with cancer each year.”
About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting StJude.org, sharing stories and videos from St. Jude Inspire, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on Twitter and Instagram and subscribing to its YouTube channel.