For PGA TOUR star Jordan Spieth’s family foundation, investing in St. Jude research ‘personal for us’

Before beginning the tour, the childhood cancer survivor looked into the eyes of the PGA TOUR star and his wife and emphasized the power of their support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

 Mariangeles Grear told Jordan and Annie Spieth that after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia as a girl, doctors told her family it was a death sentence — that she had perhaps only a week to live. 

 All these years later, thanks to St. Jude care and research, here she was, guiding them through the campus. By making St. Jude a 2024 grant recipient of the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, they are touching lives of families now and into the future.

 “This place is not just full of amazing people, amazing doctors, amazing research but full of miracles that we see walking,” Mariangeles said. “What you are doing today are for those who when they get those words, 'You're not going to make it,' they are going to have the hope and it's because of St. Jude and people like you guys." 

Jordan Spieth had visited the St. Jude campus years before, for events with patients during the PGA TOUR’s annual stop in Memphis. And since first playing in the event so closely associated with St. Jude, in 2010 as a 16-year-old in his second-ever PGA TOUR start, Jordan had interacted with patients many times at the golf course.

 But on this Monday ahead of the opening of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Jordan would see St. Jude in a new way.

 The tour with Annie also would bring an even deeper understanding of the unique role St. Jude plays in treatments and research for catastrophic pediatric diseases.

 And by the conclusion of the tour, after a chance encounter with a family who had just arrived at St. Jude, they would feel it in a much deeper way, too. 

 “It’s incredible,” Jordan Spieth said. “I think today put it all together, from the research side to people eating together and people sharing, and so many personal stories. It’s fascinating. In some cities where we play, it’s a museum or sporting event that is the highlight to visit. Here, this is the Louvre. There is nothing like it.”

Living Charitably

 Because major success came early in his career, winning The Masters and U.S. Open in 2015, even at the golf-young age of 31 Jordan Spieth has been prominent in the sports world for a long time.

 Less known to the wider world is the growing philanthropic legacy, as the work of the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation spreads to fuel more organizations doing good.

 Jordan recalled again Monday how his younger sister with special needs first motivated him to use his platform to do good, and how he was influenced by the philanthropy of the PGA TOUR players who came before him.  The Foundation launched in 2013, dedicated at the time to three pillars – individuals with special needs, military veterans and families, and junior golf.

 “We get to see so many communities on the PGA TOUR, and interact with volunteers, organizations, charities from every corner of the country,” Jordan said. “The coolest part is understanding how these people work to enable our Tour events to pour so much back into the cities we visit. While golf is my job, and one I am grateful for, we all know we are part of something much bigger and more impactful when we stop each week.”

 In 2015, when Jordan won the FedExCup Playoffs, which this year opens with the FedEx St Jude Championship, FedEx made a $1 million donation to St. Jude in his name. 

 “It kind of puts in perspective what we're doing,” Jordan said at the check presentation ceremony. “We're entertainers, in a way. But these people are making differences in children’s lives. It makes us realize that, hey, what we do is cool, but really helping others means using our position the right way.”

 In 2017, the Foundation added a fourth pillar: supporting pediatric cancer care and research.

That was motivated in part by friends and family of Jordan and Annie affected by childhood cancer. In particular for Annie, a close friend and classmate from high school.

During the tour Monday, Annie shared how her friend was diagnosed midway through their senior year with acute myeloid leukemia — or AML, the same type of blood cancer that brought their tour guide, Mariangeles, to St. Jude. Annie’s friend passed away before she could go to college.

“Losing my friend has continued to be my ‘why,’” Annie said. 

 Last year, after Annie learned more about AML research happening at St. Jude, they began to discuss how a grant could fuel progress. On the Monday visit, the Spieths were able to spend time with a St. Jude research lab focused on AML that benefits from the $500,000 grant.

 “We initially focused JSFF partnerships on patient support, but the desire to support research came shortly thereafter,” Annie said. “Family services are vital, and core to our wider mission of removing barriers, but we truly want to see survival rates change in our lifetime. The investment into AML is personal for us, and after years of visiting with St. Jude we have come to trust not only their breadth of knowledge and best in class doctors, but we see and feel their mission for worldwide progress. Their transparency and desire to share learnings is key.”

Solidifying ‘the why’

 Originally scheduled to depart for the golf course after touring the lab, Jordan stayed to join Annie to see the newest patient family residence at St. Jude, The Domino’s Village.

 There, they met Joel Alsup, a survivor of childhood bone cancer and longtime employee of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. 

 Parents of two young children, Annie and Jordan were moved hearing Joel describe how St. Jude not only saved him as a boy — it has given him a life of meaningful moments. Now married to another St. Jude survivor, Joel shared how they are riding the emotions of sending their oldest child off to college this month.

 In the arts and crafts room at The Domino’s Village, Annie and Jordan shared a look after seeing the colorful paintings created by children at St. Jude. They took in the appetizing aromas drifting from the kitchen ahead of dinnertime. On the large, open outdoor recreation area, a boy weaved by on a scooter, a father played basketball with his daughter and a mom kept watch on a young boy clambering on the playground.

 A mother and father outside recognized Jordan, said hello and introduced themselves to the Spieths. With their teenage son, they explained this was Day One for them at St. Jude — they were from Louisiana. That moment Mariangeles had described to the Spieths earlier in the tour, when a family receives the devastating cancer diagnosis, had occurred just a week earlier for the family.

 They thanked the Spieths for their support and said they would be cheering for Jordan to win in Memphis. 

 “Thank you for sharing your story,” Jordan said.

 Later, as the Spieths prepared to leave campus, they reflected on the impact of their visit, and better understanding the difference that is made in individual lives by St. Jude supporters.

 “It just solidifies the why,” Jordan said, “when you hear the actual real-life examples.”