St. Jude Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a non-profit organization that helps battle pediatric cancers. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is not your typical children’s hospital. The services and support they provide to their patients is unique as their founder Danny Thomas. I will explore their founder’s history, mission, and how they are able to continue the work today. Danny Thomas was the founder of the hospital. The story begins when Mr. Thomas went to church one day. He was so moved by the Mass that he gave his last $7 dollars to the church. He realized soon after that he had offered the only money he had to pay for hospital expenses for the birth of his first child. At that moment he prayed to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes, he promised that if St. Jude would help him that he would build a shrine in the saint’s honor. The very next day, Danny was offered a job that paid ten times what he had given to the church (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital). When Danny would be in a crossroad in life he always prayed to St. Jude. Danny would say “help me find my way in life, and I will build you a shrine” (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital). In the 1950s Danny decided to fulfill his pledge, so began the fundraising efforts. Danny and with the support of local business leaders took several years to raise the money to build the hospital. St Jude opened on February 4, 1962. He challenged the medical staff at the new hospital to make his dream that “no child should die in the dawn of life” become a reality (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital). Danny Thomas mission’s for the hospital was to provide hope to families of children battling catastrophic diseases, but to also provide a place where no one was denied help due to race, religion or a family’s ability to pay (Better Business Bureau). When the hospital opened, the survival rate from the most common form of cancer in
Cited: Better Business Bureau. BBB Wise Giving Report. October 2011 . Forbes. The 200 Largest U.S. Charities List. 30 November 2011 . St. Jude Children Research Hospital. The impact of St. Jude. . St. Jude Children 's Research Hospital. Celebrating 50 years of finding cures and saving children. . St. Jude Children 's Research Hospital. Danny 's Promise. .