Finding Cures - Saving Children
12/16/2005 1:49:15 PM
By Steve Fielder
“Finding cures - Saving children” - That’s the inscription on the back of the business card St. Jude/ALSAC Chief Executive Officer John P. Moses handed me after a warm greeting and a firm handshake Wednesday morning when we met for the first time in the lobby of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. The next few hours that Field Rep Jimmy Phillips and I, along with the Decatur County World’s Largest Coon Hunt volunteers Nelda Prichard, Kelly Deere, Carol Mooney, and George Haggard spent in the company of Senior Event Marketing Representative Scott Hinshelwood would prove that the world’s most famous research facility for children is living up to the mission, that indeed cures are being found and children are being saved.
Hinshelwood, himself a former St. Jude patient and cancer survivor spent the better part of the day explaining in great detail the St. Jude hospital facility and mission, including the remarkable vision of founder Danny Thomas. As we walked the halls of the phenomenal facility designed to conquer diseases that interrupt and threaten the lives of so many kids and their families from around the world each year, it was the kids themselves that made the greatest impact on our group. Everywhere we looked there were beautiful children and their families, each facing the challenges of serious diseases but also finding reassurance and hope that comes when one enters the doors of St. Jude.
From the first step onto the campus at St. Jude hospital, it’s clear that kids are the heart and soul of the effort that requires a staggering $1.1 million in revenue each and every day, provided for the most part by donations from folks like you and me. The success of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital rests not only in the research effort but in the amazing results. I would learn that survival rates for kids with certain forms of cancer have risen from ten percent when the program was first begun to more than 80% today.
The American Kennel Club, through endowments to the Canine Health Foundation, is firmly established as a leader in the search for cures for canine diseases.However, , the compassion doesn’t stop with the dog community. When the Decatur County Coon Hunter’s Association, founders of the Decatur County World’s Largest Coon Hunt, an annual benefit for St. Jude decided to license the event with AKC, we began to look for ways to help the volunteers reach the landmark goal of $3 million dollars in total giving through the 2006 effort. One of the ways was to contribute $10 thousand to the 2006 event as a seed hopefully to be watered by the contributions of caring coon hunters across the nation. Together, through our giving to the Decatur County World’s Largest Coon Hunt we all will help the kids at St. Jude to beat their illnesses and to live long and productive lives. Finding cures – saving children. That’s the goal, that’s the plan. Now here’s all you need to do to help.
If you would like to help the wonderful folks at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital find cures and save children’s lives, send your contribution today to:
Decatur County World’s Largest Coon Hunt
Attn: Nelda Pritchard
52 East Morgan Street
Parsons, TN 38363
“That every child at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital be given the chance we all take for granted every day – the chance for life!”
Top Photo: AKC staff and Decatur County volunteers present a check for $10,000 to the Children at St. Jude. Shown left to right are Decatur County’s Kelly Deere, St. Jude Senior Event Marketing Representative Scott Hinshelwood, AKC Executive Field Rep Jimmy Phillips, Decatur County’s Nelda Pritchard, St. Jude CEO John P. Moses, Decatur County’s George Haggard, AKC Director of Coonhound Events Steve Fielder, and Decatur County’s Carol Mooney. On the front row, left to right are St. Jude patients Caleb, Tori, and Adam, three of the many wonderful kids we met at St. Jude.
Center Photo: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital where "hope" springs eternal for the children that come through its doors.
Bottom Photo: The Danny Thomas Pavilion which houses all of the St. Jude founder and entertainer's memorabilia. Danny Thomas is entombed here on the grounds of the St. Jude hospital.
|
