Danny Thomas was a young man trying to make it in the entertainment world. He had a wife and a young baby on the way, but his career was on a downward slope. He needed some help. He began praying to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes. He promised that if St. Jude showed him what he needed to do, he would erect a shrine in his honor. Thomas soon started having success and so he had a promise to keep.
During the 1950s, Thomas began planning how he would honor St. Jude. The idea of establishing a “unique research hospital devoted to curing catastrophic diseases in children” was tossed around. The construction was completed, but the operation costs were a problem. Thomas then created the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, ALSAC, to help with these costs. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital daily operating costs are about $1.6 million, so the ALSAC has been a beneficial factor on keeping the doors open since February 4, 1962.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is concerned with the research in gene therapy, bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy, the biochemistry of normal and cancerous cells, radiation treatment, blood diseases, resistance to therapy, viruses, hereditary diseases, influenza, pediatric AIDS and psychological effects of catastrophic illnesses. These are very important to the 5,700 active patients seen at St. Jude.
Linda Baumberger has had much experience with St. Jude because her daughter Kendra was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 6 she became a patient at St. Jude.
“You can’t imagine what a fantastic place [St. Jude] is. I hope none of you ever need it, but if your children ever develop cancer go there as quickly as you can” Baumberger said. “Everyone in that hospital is pulling for these kids and they are researching around the clock to give the children the best treatments.”
St. Jude is really good about caring about their patients. They don’t require their patients to pay anything that insurance doesn’t pay. The donations collected at events like the letter writing and benefit concerts of Up ‘Til Dawn help with those costs. Kansas State University has been helpful in collecting $98,579 this year.
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