Retail and Restaurant Partners Nationwide Raise More Than $678,000 to Give Hope to Kids Fighting Deadly Diseases at St. Jude

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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Jul 08, 2010, 10:56 ET

MEMPHIS, Tenn., July 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Businesses across the country raised more than $678,000 during the 2nd annual Give thanks. Give hope.™ campaign to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®. St. Jude is one of the world's premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases.

During the campaign, which spanned the months of April and May, more than 2,600 restaurants, grocery stores and other retail locations nationwide encouraged consumers to make a donation to St. Jude. One hundred percent of proceeds will help St. Jude fulfill its mission of finding cures and saving children.

National partners A&P Family of Supermarkets and Fry's Food Stores boasted more than 560 retail locations nationwide that participated in the Give thanks. Give hope. campaign. Collectively these companies generated 50 percent of the campaign's fundraising total.

"We are so grateful for the remarkable fundraising efforts of our Give thanks. Give hope. campaign partners," said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising organization of St. Jude. "We appreciate the generous customers who supported St. Jude during the campaign by helping our doctors and scientists continue the search for cures and by giving hope one dollar at a time to precious children who are fighting for their lives."

St. Jude plays a unique role in the charitable and health care landscape and was recently ranked the most trusted charity in the U.S. by the international research firm, Harris Interactive. U.S. News & World Report named St. Jude the No. 1 children's cancer hospital in the nation in its 2010-11 Best Children's Hospital ranking. Over nearly 50 years, the research conducted at St. Jude has helped push the survival rates for childhood cancers from 20 percent to 80 percent today. St. Jude has achieved a survival rate of 94 percent for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer. Today, St. Jude continues to conduct the breakthrough research that is changing the way some of the deadliest childhood diseases are treated.

About St. Jude

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. St. Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fundraising organization. In 2010, St. Jude was ranked the most trusted charity in the nation in a public survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a highly respected international polling and research firm. St. Jude was also named the nation's top children's cancer hospital in the 2010-11 Best Children's Hospitals rankings published by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, go to www.stjude.org.

SOURCE St. Jude Children's Research Hospital