St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Memphis, Tenn., works with colleges across the country to raise funds for cancer and disease stricken children. This will be Fairfield’s fifth year participating in the “Up Til Dawn” event that helps to save lives by writing letters to family members and friends. The fund-raising goal is $22,500, double the amount rose last year.
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital cares for children suffering from life threatening diseases like sickle cell anemia and cancer. Founded in 1962, St. Jude has since improved the childhood cancer survival rate from 20 to 90 percent. What separates St. Jude from other children’s hospitals is that even if the patients’ families do not have health insurance, they are able to receive treatment with St. Jude’s funding. This cost for this assistance each day comes to $1.4 million.
Fairfield students’ letters will hopefully help to minimize that cost. They are personalized by individual or team volunteers and include a stamped envelope inside so recipients can donate directly to St. Jude. For each 35 letters sent, the hospital receives an average of $250.
Fairfield University’s committee of 10 is hosting “Up Till Dawn” which used to be a night in which only Fairfield’s Alpha Sigma Nu members could participate. This year the event is open to all students and the executive board would like to see more people get involved. Executive Board member Stephanie Stadig ’10 said, “This is the first year we’re really trying to extend it to a lot of the student body taking it out of just Alpha Sigma Nu and bringing it campus-wide.”
The night will include food from local restaurants, music and raffles. The biggest raffle item will be a Nintendo Wii.
Stadig has been involved with this cause since elementary school when she raised money for St. Jude at a “Math-a-thon,” raising money for each math problem she answered correctly. She believes in what the hospital is doing for children.
“I really love the aspect of it that its health care and treatment for everyone even if you can’t afford it, you can still fight to stay alive,” said Stadig. “This is not just good work for something far away, children from all around this area go there.”
Tomorrow, students will notice a poster inscribed with the word “HOPE.” This poster will be on display for students to write inspirational messages to the patients of St. Jude and will be sent to the hospital to be displayed in the hallways on the way to the operating rooms. All students are encouraged to register for the event on St. Jude’s Web site.
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