St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® received a generous donation of $500,000 today from Amazon, as the company is “going gold” to raise awareness during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to help St. Jude work to end childhood cancer. In addition, Amazon will serve as a $150,000 St. Jude Walk/Run sponsor and provide $20,000 worth of STEAM learning equipment to further support St. Jude kids and families during the back-to-school season.
This year’s theme for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is “Let’s cure childhood cancer. Together.” In addition to these donations, Amazon will also wave Amazon Pay processing fees during September for donations made to St. Jude, an additional showing of support for those dedicated to the lifesaving mission of St. Jude: Finding cures. Saving children.®
Amazon has directly supported St. Jude since 2014, with AmazonSmile generating nearly $10 million for St. Jude and more than $198 million for hundreds of thousands of charities in total. For 2020, the Amazon Goes Gold annual initiative will bring much needed awareness to help ensure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all they should worry about is helping their child live.
Amazon Goes Gold® packages are delivered to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“The annual support we receive from Amazon truly makes an impact in the lives of the patients and families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, something that is achieved exclusively through the kindness of Amazon’s employees and the company’s compassionate customers around the world,” said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “September is not only Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, but also the start of new and exciting adventures as children head back to school, which at this time is manifesting in different ways across the country. This generous contribution will not only support the groundbreaking research and treatment at St. Jude, but it will also make sure our kids have what they need to get back to another year of learning and growing. Childhood cancer does not stop and neither will we.”
“We believe it’s critical to raise awareness of childhood cancer and, for that reason, our annual Amazon Goes Gold initiative aims to provide much needed support for families impacted by this devastating disease,” said Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations. “We’re proud to continue our partnership with St. Jude with a $500,000 donation to help find a cure. Along the way, we want to help make daily life easier for patients and families as they head back to school by contributing STEAM learning equipment for use throughout treatment and in virtual and in-person classrooms.”
Amazon’s support for St. Jude is comprehensive. The organization’s first-time national St. Jude Walk/Run teams were formed last year and raised $90,000. Amazon has increased their support of the St. Jude Walk/Run for 2020, committing to a $150,000 Walk/Run Healthy Living Challenge sponsorship in addition to forming walk teams across the country for St. Jude, an effort that has already raised more than $107,000 to date. In 2019, St. Jude patient families were treated to an Amazon Robotics Popup Lab event on the St. Jude campus, where they received STEAM learning products and learned the ins-and-outs of how the Amazon fulfillment system operates. Amazon also donated $5 for every person who toured an Amazon fulfillment center during September, which generated $60,000, bringing Amazon's overall support for St. Jude to nearly $10 million.
To learn more about Childhood Cancer Awareness month and become involved in events supporting St. Jude, visit stjude.org.
About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since the hospital opened in 1962. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. Visit St. Jude Inspire to discover powerful St. Jude stories of hope, strength, love and kindness. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and subscribing to its YouTube channel.
Media Contacts:
Kurt Rossler
ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Kurt.Rossler@stjude.org
(901) 578-6752