The End of Something Special

Recently my daughter completed her final year as a member of the St. Jude Performance Team. For ten years of her life (she’s now seventeen), she has practiced for months with other local kids to learn fitness routines performed to music. The focus is a one-day event in March called Fitness for a Cure where a day show and a gala event raise money with all proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Over the years this team of kids from first graders to college students has grown to one hundred kids representing over twenty towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

While this has been a significant commitment for her, it has also been a commitment for me. In addition to committee meetings and driving to practices, I have been a dedicated committee member for these ten years, soliciting ads, writing press releases, identifying speakers for the gala (including fellow Boston College Eagle Mark Herzlich), securing donations for the silent and live auction and sending emails to friends and family to raise money for this cause that has become near and dear to my heart. For many years, For Marketing Matters has proudly been a Friend of St. Jude sponsor.

How it Started

Eleven years ago, I took Meredith and a friend to a Fitness for a Cure performance on a Saturday afternoon. I had no expectations for the event and arrived with little to no cash and no kleenex. The room was electric with the team performing high energy fitness routines to music on a small stage at the Andover Country Club. I was financially unprepared for the fundraising efforts and was less prepared for stories about children battling cancer and parents turning to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to save their child. Meredith looked at me at the conclusion of the performance and confidently stated she wanted to be part of the performance team the next year. We were ALL in. Every year since, I would ask her if she wanted to be part of the team and there never was any hesitation in her response.

A Connection to a Grandfather I Never Met

Every year, my parents, my sister, nieces and nephews, select aunts and uncles and my in-laws would attend one of the performances, the day show or the evening gala. There was a connection to St. Jude that I did not know about that was truly special.

My mother watched with pride as Meredith performed with the team on stage at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. One year, Meredith grew her hair so she could have her hair cut on stage during the day show to donate her hair for children’s wigs. With a twinkle in her Irish eyes, my mother shared with me that St. Jude was special to her own father. When he could, he would put a few dollars in the mail to send to Danny Thomas and St. Jude. This was remarkable as there was not extra money in a household raising seven children during the Depression. Additionally, I never met my grandfather as he passed away before I was born. This connection of the four generations was poignant. I imagined Dad-o watching over Meredith and being proud of her and feeling a connection to his great granddaughter and granddaughter whom he never met.

Memphis

Two summers ago, Meredith and I were fortunate to join others on the Fitness for a Cure team and travel to Memphis to experience St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in person, meet some patients and their families and spend time at The Target House. It was an incredible trip and one that neither of us will ever forget. We played tag, we colored, we made bracelets, and we played the Game of Life with patients and patients’ siblings. The irony of the chosen game was not lost on us. Four of us played the game including a young athlete battling cancer and a sister of a patient who had never played Life before. While my daughter chose the college route in the game, the patient chose the other path commenting that she did not know how much time she had left so she would not opt to go to college.

Making an Impact

The summer we went to Memphis, the leader of Fitness for a Cure, Sherri Laffey Sarrouf, asked me to generate ideas for next year’s performance theme. I was happy to be asked and as I typically do, was taking many notes during our trip so I could capture my emotions, reflections and keep the names of the patients top of mind. I did not want to forget details to share with others after the trip, especially my mother. It was incredible to see the hospital, meet the patients, observe parents and see families as a unit being together. I marveled at the positivity. Hope was palpable.

The theme I recommended was Make an Impact. Join Our Fight. All the kids on the team make an incredible impact: in their commitment, in their infectious energy, in their fundraising. These are kids who are strong in body, committed to helping others who have been diagnosed with cancer.

The financial impact alone is incredible. This year, we continued raising more money than prior years and exceeded $600,000! This group of dedicated kids and their families truly make an impact.

Working for a Greater Good

Eleven years ago sitting at the Andover Country Club, I had no idea where this St. Jude Performance Team was going to lead my daughter and me. I am so proud of her and her making this commitment at the age of 7 and never wavering. As a senior on the team, she spoke at the final dress rehearsal at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. It was a proud parent moment. I am so grateful to have been on this journey with her, to know that our involvement has made an impact in funding research to cure childhood cancer. So many friends and family have supported our annual fundraising efforts by giving money, by coming to the performance, by donating items and foregoing ski weekends and other activities to be there supporting her.

St. Jude will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up watching Danny Thomas and Marlo on TV. These past 10 years have been special and I pray that Danny Thomas’ dream will one day be a reality: That no child shall die in the dawn of life.