Hope. Inspiration. Love.
Recently I had the opportunity to visit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and while I was prepared to be sad and crying the whole way through, the experience was more uplifting than I ever thought it would be.
For those who are familiar with St. Jude and seeing the beautiful, brave children with bald heads battling cancer and other childhood diseases, it’s a place that is so much more for families who face the toughest time of their lives seeing their children in need of critical services. I walked the halls of St. Jude and was in awe.
Research is important to guide in their efforts. The institution in Memphis does research on childhood cancer and other diseases of the blood like sickle cell and HIV/AIDS and if they make a discovery, it is shared FREELY with the world.
Last year St. Jude raised a billion dollars, and they don’t sell anything! No IPhones, no tennis shoes. They sell HOPE. It’s all about keeping kids ALIVE!
I learned that St. Jude treats the sickest children and takes on the world’s toughest cases that are not able to be handled at their home hospital. What’s truly great about St. Jude is that while some hospitals say they treat everyone whether they have the ability to pay, St. Jude really mean it. St. Jude never gives you a bill for anything and that is truly the unique part.
I was told a story of how one child’s medicine was $250 an ounce and the child needed 40 ounces a day everyday for three years! The child had leukemia and the mom was overwhelmed to know St. Jude would take care of it and said Thank God for St. Jude.
Because of St. Jude, the cancer survival rate went from 20% to 80% since opening 50 years ago. Yet 1 in 4 children will still die. This is why you should donate. One kid dying is too many! No kid should die from cancer. The average donation to St. Jude is $30. That’s something each of us can afford.
From this visit, it made me wonder why I had never donated to St. Jude before. It made me sad that I didn’t know more about it. But when you know better, you do better. So I will share the experiences and stories of St. Jude throughout the year with hopes that you too will realize how much you can help to impact a child’s life and how much your contribution is GREATLY needed.
Please follow the #StJudeBlogTour to read more stories in the coming months about the experience of the children and families and how St. Jude helps so many. I will share more posts in the coming weeks and months about the experience. Visit St.Jude.org for more info.
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