Founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, and dedicated in 1962, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital began with a single building and one man's dream.
Nearly 50 years later, the mission remains the same.
"Our mission is finding cures and saving children. We are a pediatric cancer hospital, primarily, although we see kids for sickle cell disease and other diseases as well. And we're the institution where no child is ever turned away because of an inability to pay," said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., ALSAC CEO.
There are images and likenesses of Danny Thomas and the Thomas family throughout this facility. But I'm told none is more important than this one: a bust of Danny Thomas. At any time, day or night, you may see a doctor, a researcher, even a patient, rub his nose for good luck.
Today St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is recognized as the premier pediatric cancer care center in the nation, with a phenomenal rate of success.
"The survival rate for the most common form of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia was only four percent in 1962. Today it's 94 percent. The overall survival rate for childhood cancer has gone from 20 percent in 1962 to almost 80 percent," said Shadyac.
The facility has grown from that single building to 2 ½ million square feet.
St. Jude treats children from all over the world, about 260 per day, at a daily cost of 1.7 million dollars. It also draws doctors and researchers from around the globe.
I met one who appreciates the lasting influence of the man who started it all.
"One of the brilliant things I think here at St. Jude...and that was Danny Thomas' idea from the very beginning...and that was the cafeteria at St. Jude should be the heart of the hospital. Every day, and I actually mean every day of the week because I am working seven days a week...not because anyone tells me to but because I want to. Every day when I go into that cafeteria I meet the patients. And I meet their families. I maybe don't talk to them, but I see them, and that is something that is a major driving force. I can work ten, twelve hours a day, no problem, seven days a week. I do that, just because I want to be able to help them and figure out what's going on," said Dr. Linda Holmfeldt, with the St. Jude Pathology Department.
It is that kind of dedication that makes this such a special place.
Thanks to your generous donations, and to the devoted researchers at St. Jude, the fight goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
