Keeping Teah Palmer’s light shining by helping the kids of St. Jude

On a clear sunny Sunday in October at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, the congregation came together to honor longtime member Teah Palmer and support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, where hope is a daily practice. 

“We know what can happen when we hope, don’t we? Teah taught us that,” ALSAC Chief Financial Officer Kera Wright told the congregation. “She showed us that hope is not just a feeling but a way of living that can inspire and lift up everyone around us.”

Palmer’s life was an embodiment of hope in action. She worked at ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude, for 23 years. Palmer found innovative ways to raise more money ─ and then to raise it faster.

She attended fundraising events, front and center, volunteering to show up early to help set up or cheer on runners at the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend. Her hollered thank-yous were the loudest. Palmer knew what was at stake.

She’d grown up in this church with her parents, Theodore and Donna Palmer, and younger sister, Tasha. Palmer was deeply rooted in the community, active in the women’s and music ministries, mentoring youth and singing in the choir with unmatched fervor. 

Palmer had an incredible voice and a command of music, but when she sang, it was more than a song. 

“It was real praise, and it transported you to another place,” Dr. J. Lawrence Turner, Senior Pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, said. “No matter what you may be going through any particular Sunday or season of your life, it gave you the assurance that with God, everything will work out.” You could feel it in your soul. 

As her friend, Wright knew Palmer’s death on July 7, 2024, left an immeasurable void. One that felt impossible to fill. “Teah was a force. You could feel it,” she said. Pastor Turner and his congregation felt it, too. But they also felt something else. Something Palmer left behind. 

‘I see Teah’s light’

Palmer worked at ALSAC for two years as a college intern while earning a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Memphis and was hired full-time in 2001. She worked her way up, earning an MBA from Bethel University in 2012, and becoming the Director of Data Science and Insights in 2023.

At the time, Palmer wrote on Facebook, “Don’t look at anybody else’s path and think you aren’t doing enough or that you’ve failed or missed your opportunity. What’s for you is for you. Be open to try new experiences. You never know when your breakthrough will come.”

Whatever Palmer did, she wanted to do it well ─ and she did ─ but Palmer also wanted everyone else to do well. She put people first, lifting up those around her.

“Teah had a way of making us feel appreciated for who we are, not just for what we do,” Wright said. “She made everyone feel valued because she cared.”

Whether it was a colleague having a tough day or a friend going through a difficult time, Palmer was there. If there was a problem, she’d take it on — and figure out how to solve it. 

“Teah believed in you, so you believed in you,” Wright said. “Teah showed us that none of us are in this life alone.”

To try to fill a part of that void left by Palmer’s absence, Wright emulates her friend by lifting people up, working to make a difference and celebrating every moment. 

“In doing so, I see Teah’s light,” Wright said. “That’s Teah’s legacy.”

‘Serving the Lord with gladness’

At Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, affectionately called “The Blvd,” Palmer’s legacy is evident everywhere. “She was a vibrant spirit, always willing and always, as scripture says, serving the Lord with gladness,” Pastor Turner said. “You could count on her.”

That scripture, Psalm 100: 1-2, says, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness!” and ends with, “Come into his presence with singing!” Palmer did that, too. 

Anyone who knew Palmer knew there was no asking her to do anything else on Thursday evenings — she had choir rehearsal. Every Sunday, Palmer arrived early for sound check, sang at early worship services at The Blvd and then made a 25-minute drive to sing at the later worship service at its midtown campus.  

“Teah was just in a spirit of freeness singing,” First Lady Bridgett Turner, Pastor Turner’s wife, said. Palmer had an incredible voice and a command of the music, but it was more than that. It was her form of praise. Yet Palmer never sought the spotlight. She coached others, helping them get better, raising her voice with theirs. Whatever was happening at The Blvd, Palmer was there to help.

“Teah radiated positivity all around her. Hope. Joy,” First Lady Turner said. 

Pastor Turner said Palmer was the embodiment of Matthew 5:15: “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.”

“For me, that’s the lesson of her life,” Pastor Turner said. “She did not take to a pulpit to preach. She did not shout from the rooftops. God was glorified in the way she lived her life on a daily basis.”

Sunday of Hope

Palmer didn’t preach about her faith or her dedication to the mission of St. Jude. She just did the work. “She put her faith into action in everything she did,” First Lady Turner said. 

So, when the Turners considered how their congregation would carry on Palmer’s legacy, they decided to embrace the values she held dear — compassion, generosity and hope —and take action to help St. Jude.

St. Jude Sunday of Hope is a program that allows churches across the country to designate a Sunday for congregants to donate directly to St. Jude. Launched in 2008 in collaboration with Kappa Alpha Psi® Fraternity, Inc., Sunday of Hope has united 600-plus churches and raised more than $6 million for St. Jude. 

The church had participated in St. Jude Sunday of Hope before, the first time in 2014 to celebrate the Turners’ son Josiah’s first birthday. 

“It’s always in our minds that St. Jude is doing amazing, incredible work,” Pastor Turner said. The church has supported St. Jude in other ways, including buying tables at St. Jude Spirit of the Dream, a Memphis-area fundraising dinner that recognizes those who embody the mission of St. Jude by making significant contributions to the community, particularly African Americans.

Knowing Palmer wouldn’t want the focus to be on her, her mother told the Turners, “Don’t make this about Teah. Make it about the kids.”

In the weeks leading up to Sunday of Hope, Pastor Turner announced a fundraising goal of $25,000. Then, on Oct. 20, 2024, St. Jude was featured at all three services at The Blvd with stories about the mission, the work being done, and the patients. A patient mom testified about the exemplary care her three daughters received at St. Jude and the goodness of God.

First Lady Turner almost couldn’t believe it when they tallied the donations. Their congregation had given more than $41,000 to St. Jude.  

“They were moved by the work of St. Jude — and moved by Teah’s life,” Pastor Turner said. But her church family wasn’t done.

When the total raised was announced at services the next Sunday, congregants donated even more. “They gave and kept giving, that day and the next two days,” Pastor Turner said. In all, The Blvd donated $45,704 to St. Jude. In a remarkable coincidence, Palmer was 45 when she passed away.

“It shows what we can do when we come together with a shared purpose,” First Lady Turner said. By embracing the mission Palmer wholeheartedly believed in with the same compassion and generosity, her church family will keep making a difference, lifting up others and spreading hope, just as Palmer had done.