December 2018, I traveled to Memphis, Tennessee for the St. Jude Marathon Weekend. While my employer Shaw has raised money for St. Jude over the years, this was my first year participating in this St. Jude event. Here are a few of my experiences and what I learned!
Fundraising
When I decided to participate in the St. Jude Marathon Weekend, I committed to a fundraising goal of $1,500. This is called being a Silver-Level hero. I initially found asking for donations to be intimidating. I had never asked people for donations like this before. Fortunately, St. Jude had a dashboard system and individual profile pages to help me. I worked on my goal through email, Facebook, and in-person.
I was amazed how certain individuals went above and beyond to help to me. It definitely gave me a further appreciation for those particular people and our relationships. I was also surprised to discover a few people I knew had family members previously treated by St. Jude.
Some of the best people for supporting my goal previously ran for St. Jude or planned to volunteer at this year’s event. Therefore, I came to this conclusion: the shared fundraising experience is like the shared retail working experience.
You see, once you leave a retail job, you have an understanding and appreciation for those working in retail. You want to make their lives easier because you have been there yourself! Likewise, those who have fundraised in the past want to help those who are fundraising today. I would like to think this experience has changed the way I will look at fundraising from friends and coworkers in the future.
Touring The Hospital
When we toured the hospital in Memphis, I noticed the walls were brightly painted for the four different seasons. I noticed one painted wall featured a kid with an eye-patch playing. Our guide discussed how many of the children seen on the wall were drawn without an arm, without hair, with an eye-patch, or etc, to better connect to the children in the hospital. What a fantastic concept!
The walls also featured the “St. Jude ABCs of Cancer,” where children wrote and drew about their cancer experience using the alphabet. Photos of patients (as a child and then an adult) also decorated the walls.
In certain areas of the hospital the desks were incredibly low. Our guide explained this was so the desk height would not seem as intimidating to the children first coming into the hospital. We saw a double-receiver phone to help with multilingual conversations.
Future Proofing Their Goal
I learned that St. Jude does a checkup every other year on the children they have treated. This is a great way to make sure the cancer has not returned. This checkup is also a great way to see how the treatment impacted the children long term. The data gained here can certainly shape the way children’s cancer is treated in the future.
Going World Wide
St. Jude certainly celebrated how they have helped raise the cancer survival rates for many children’s cancers to 4 out of 5. While they certainly treat children all over the world, their next big goal is to impact developing countries where children are often non-diagnosed or non-treated. Areas like this have a survival rate of 1 out of 5. St. Jude wants to change that!
A Stellar Testimony
The night before the race, there was a dinner for many fundraising individuals and groups. During this meal, we heard the amazing story of Corbin as told by himself and his mother.
Corbin was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of three. His mother found a lump on his back. Eventually, with the help of St. Jude, his cancer went into remission. Fast-forward to age 15 — Corbin found that his left arm was hurting. His mother theorized that maybe he was just playing guitar too much, but they decided to have it checked anyway. Cancer was back.
This cancer was different — it was a bone cancer. Furthermore, the experience would change for the mother this time. When her son was a three-year-old, she could present things in a manner perfect for a three-year-old. Back then the doctors were speaking straight to her. But now, the doctors looked to her son. She would have to watch him grow up even faster and experience the chilling realities of cancer a 3-year-old might not be aware of.
After his treatments, Corbin had to have the cancerous bone removed and an artificial bone placed in his arm. He feared he would never play guitar again. Fortunately, his arm healed enough for him to play again. To demonstrate, Corbin performed and sang “Take On Me,” by A-ha. It was a fantastic and emotional experience to watch.
To The Finish Line
The St. Jude Marathon Weekend featured a 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon, and Marathon. We got up early and walked to the starting line. Rain delayed the start of the races. Regardless, people gathered early. Different groups wore shirts celebrating their teams and honoring children who had passed on or continue to fight today. Some wore orange bands around their arms for those who have(had) cancer or have(had) someone in their family with cancer. Others wore purple bands denoting they lost someone to cancer.
Before the race, the national anthem was beautiful sung by a cancer-fighter. Her performance was perfect. Then we were off, running through down-town Memphis and eventually the St. Jude Hospital Campus. The race ended at AutoZone Park, where people celebrated, ate, took photos, and conversed. Then the music began.
Last Thoughts
Events like the St. Jude Marathon Weekend are an amazing way to raise money for a great cause. The families of St. Jude patients do not have to pay anything for their child’s treatment, regardless of if it is is treatment, travel, housing, or food. Instead, the families can focus on the more important task ahead: fighting for the future.
Meanwhile St. Jude employs people from all over the world to research cancer and find better cures. According to the hospital, treatments invented by St. Jude have aiding in moving the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% when the hospital opened in 1962 to more than 80% today. Their research is openly shared so that cancer can be fought on all fronts. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent and won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. The money we raise is well spent.
As for me, I am proud of the work I was able to accomplish with the help of amazing friends, coworkers, and family. With their support, I was able to surpass my goal and make a difference.
Now I’m beginning to wonder: ‘How about doing the Half-Marathon next time?’
댓글