August 18, 2012
Mission: Cure Cancer for Children
Mark, Sean and I had a fantastic trip to St Jude. After settling in we received an inspiring tour of their facilities. We were able to see the hospital where they care for the children, the research facility where they manufacture their own drugs and find ground breaking cures, Tower 1 where they focus on brain tumors, and the start of Tower 2 where the second ever proton beam for cancer curing (rather than chemotherapy) will reside. We then ate in the cafeteria where the patients, doctors, nurses and staff all eat – together.
Our meeting with ALSAC afterwards (the fund raising arm of the hospital) went well. We learned that it takes $1.8m per day to operate the hospital. We also learned that digital donations IS the future for St. Jude. They expect to go from $50-$60m per year in digital donations to $300-$400m in the next 3-5 years. Crown is at ground zero in helping St Jude hit their next trajectory in curing cancer for children.
When we left, we were discussing the power of their mission. Melanee, the stand in CMO for ALSAC, asked if we had ever seen the video "One Last Christmas". We admitted that we hadn't. I just Googled it and watched it. I encourage you to also watch it. Fair warning: at a minimum it might just change your perspective on the work we are doing for St Jude. And, it might even cause you to stop and think for a moment about the fragile nature of life and the things we sometimes (many times) take for granted.
One Last Christmas - Click Here
PS. 20 years ago, one particular cancer had a survival rate for children of 4%. Just 4 out of every 100 survived. Today, thanks to the research of St Jude, supported by the funding of ALSAC, the survival rate is now at 96%.
Richard
Our meeting with ALSAC afterwards (the fund raising arm of the hospital) went well. We learned that it takes $1.8m per day to operate the hospital. We also learned that digital donations IS the future for St. Jude. They expect to go from $50-$60m per year in digital donations to $300-$400m in the next 3-5 years. Crown is at ground zero in helping St Jude hit their next trajectory in curing cancer for children.
When we left, we were discussing the power of their mission. Melanee, the stand in CMO for ALSAC, asked if we had ever seen the video "One Last Christmas". We admitted that we hadn't. I just Googled it and watched it. I encourage you to also watch it. Fair warning: at a minimum it might just change your perspective on the work we are doing for St Jude. And, it might even cause you to stop and think for a moment about the fragile nature of life and the things we sometimes (many times) take for granted.
One Last Christmas - Click Here
PS. 20 years ago, one particular cancer had a survival rate for children of 4%. Just 4 out of every 100 survived. Today, thanks to the research of St Jude, supported by the funding of ALSAC, the survival rate is now at 96%.
Richard