ALSAC President and CEO Richard C. Shadyac Jr. reflects on what's to come in 2020, and ways that St. Jude is meeting the challenge of pediatric cancer around the world. 

As dawn breaks on 2020, we at ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, are excited for the opportunities in the decade ahead. As St. Jude doctors and researchers showed us last year with the announcement of a cure for SCID-X1, better known as “bubble boy disease,” the world can truly change when people are unified behind the purpose of helping those in need.

This was the same motivational message of love, care and empathy spread across the country in the 1950s and '60s by our founder Danny Thomas, as he raised money for an institution that would be built to save the lives of children.

These partners truly understand the importance of purpose. According to recent studies, 47% of consumers believe brands should be involved in social issues and movements* while 73% of employees say companies can act to both increase profits and improve the economic and social conditions in communities where they operate.**

58% of consumers want brands that give back to their communities*. It’s why service is a culture pillar supporting the very foundation of all we do at ALSAC and why we’ve logged more than 50,000 community service hours since 2018 in our commitment to care for communities where we, our supporters and our St. Jude families live.

I believe this is what Danny Thomas foresaw on that day in 1962, when he unveiled the statue of St. Jude Thaddeus that still stands as a beacon of hope and ushers the world through our doors — an institution that would be more than glass and concrete, but one of heart and soul with a global purpose behind caring for some of the sickest kids regardless of race, religion or family’s ability to pay.

It was the very ideal espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we celebrated this year on January 20. Dr. King said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”