The ongoing relationship between Tri Delta and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital began back in 1999. With the adoption of this organization as Tri Delta’s national philanthropy, both the sorority and the hospital began to gain and learn so much about charity, family, and the importance of life – especially in it’s youth.

 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, located in Memphis, Tennessee, offers the unique mission to “find cures for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases through research and treatment,” and the hospital offers to all of the families at no cost to them. No patients are ever billed one cent for their time spent at St. Jude, including treatments, travel, food, and housing for them and their families.

 Tri Delta’s first pledge to St. Jude was to raise $1 million in five years. That goal was achieved one year ahead of time. The next commitment was to raise $10 million in 10 years, which was completed in only four years. The final and most recent goal was to raise $15 million in 5 years. This goal was just completed nationally, a year and a half ahead of schedule.

 With the overall total amount of money raised by Tri Delta reaching over $25,000,000, Tri Delta has funded the three main facilities for the hospital. The first was the Teen Room, which is a place for 13-19 year old patients to relax. The second facility is the Tri Delta Patient Care Floor for bone marrow transplants. The most recent $15 million went to the C-Clinic, which offers treatments to nearly every patient that comes through St. Jude’s doors.

 As the second largest healthcare charity in the United States, St. Jude operates solely based on donations and help from donors. Tri Delta’s impact on St. Jude includes countless types of treatments, but also the ability for families to stay with their children during the hard times they face. According to St. Jude, the $25 million raised by Tri Delta could have provided some of the following:

1.     Full operation of St. Jude for more than 13 days, seeing as the hospital takes $1.8 million to operate each day

2.     2,500,000 meals for patients

3.     100,000 units of red blood cells for transfusions

4.     16,960 doses of chemotherapy

5.     2,739 CT scans

 That perspective shows how much that money really does. This isn’t just research – its actually helping these children survive. Since St. Jude opened in 1962, the overall child cancer survival rate has increased from 20% to 80%. St. Jude has also stated that they are working to increase that percentage to 90% in the next decade.

One of my sisters visited St. Jude in years past, and tells the story of a nurse that stopped the group of Tri Delta’s walking through the hospital. She wanted to personally thank the group for all that Tri Delta does, on behalf of a patient and his mother who had asked her to do so. That serves as proof of the impact that this philanthropy has on such a large community.