Chip and Joanna Gaines to rally support for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Throughout September, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^® is drawing on the power of community and creativity to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM). Whether it's one of the 75 St. Jude Walk/Run events planned across the country, celebrity-driven social media campaigns, a custom t-shirt designed by Joanna Gaines and her daughter, or rounding up at the register, there are plenty of ways to show support for the lifesaving mission of St. Jude: Finding cures. Saving children.^® 

Get involved: Threads, treads, tags and together

Threads: Gaines family designs t-shirt for childhood cancer awareness

Chip and Joanna Gaines are usually found demoing and designing homes but this September, their family is lending its creative juices to a different cause as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month ambassadors for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Inspired by the St. Jude Childhood Cancer Awareness tagline –Let’s cure childhood cancer. Together.–, Joanna Gaines, along with her eldest daughter, Ella, co-designed a commemorative t-shirt to honor pediatric cancer patients and survivors.

This is not the first time the Gaines family has supported St. Jude. Their connection began in 2017 when Chip vowed to shave his head in honor of friend and St. Jude patient Bailey in the Operation Haircut fundraiser that, after tremendous success, inspired a sequel in 2021. Their support has also included teaming up with fellow celebrities on social media for the Chip In Challenge, creating an outdoor patient playhouse and renovating the dining room at Target House, the long-term home away from home for St. Jude patients and families, and contributing a portion of proceeds from Joanna’s children’s book, “The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be.”

Treads: Friends and family to put their best foot forward for St. Jude Walk/Run

For the first time since the event went fully online in 2019, communities everywhere will gather on Sept. 24 for 75 in-person St. Jude Walk/Run events across 50 markets. Race sites will feature food trucks, family entertainment, patient artwork, and more. Supporters participating virtually are encouraged to download the St. Jude Walk/Run app on the Apple App Store and Google Play which will feature an immersive virtual experience and also serves as a great tool to track fundraising progress and current St. Jude Walk/Run news.

Tags: #ShowYourGold and #30DaysForStJude campaigns

The second annual #ShowYourGold social campaign invites supporters across the country to join St. Jude and share on their own social media accounts how they support the mission of St. Jude. Members of the public are invited to take a selfie or snap a picture wearing gold or their St. Jude Walk/Run t-shirts to show support for families affected by childhood cancer.

Celebrities including Chip and Joanna Gaines, Luis Fonsi, and Alex and Maia Shibutani will also come together all September to help cure childhood cancer using the hashtag #30DaysForStJude on social media.

Together: Supporters give back 

Defeating childhood cancer is not a solo endeavor. St. Jude partners have a history of showing up for the mission of St. Jude, and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month proves no different. Throughout the month of September and beyond, consumers can visit select businesses below to help cure childhood cancer together.   

• Amazon – Shoppers can support St. Jude by donating needed non-monetary items through the AmazonSmile Charity Lists. In addition to generous donations of needed items, Amazon will donate .05% of the purchase price back to St. Jude as part of their AmazonSmile program when consumers select St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as their charity of choice.
• CARS – When drivers donate their vehicle through CARS and select St. Jude as the beneficiary, CARS will donate 80% of the net sales proceeds to St. Jude families.
• Denny's – For every kid's meal purchased, Denny’s will donate $0.05 cents to support St Jude patients and families.
• Signet – KAY, Jared's, Zales and Piercing Pagoda will support St. Jude during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month by offering customers the opportunity to give at the register.
• Window World – Customers will have the chance to support St. Jude by adding $1 to their purchase.  
• Shoe Carnival – From Sept. 12 – Oct. 31, Shoe Carnival will offer customers the opportunity to round up their change at the register, with all donations raised benefiting St. Jude.

Other sponsors include Road Ranger, Texas de Brazil, Domino’s, Microsoft, Varsity Brands, My Salon Suites, Publisher's Clearing House, Jane and Nurse Mates.

St. Jude supporters can also lend an ear to support Relay FM co-founder and St. Jude patient father Stephen Hackett alongside business partner Myke Hurley as they host the fourth annual Relay FM for St. Jude Podcastathon from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. CT, Sept. 16 on Twitch, live from the St. Jude campus in Memphis, Tenn. Supporters are encouraged to witness the fun unfold and follow Relay FM’s fundraising journey for St. Jude as they aim to surpass their lifetime fundraising goal of $2 million.

Why it matters

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month unites communities to raise awareness and accelerate progress toward curing pediatric cancer, the leading cause of death by disease for children under the age of 14.

Since its founding in 1962, St. Jude has been at the forefront of progress and helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% at no cost to families. Today, childhood cancer is a multi-trillion-dollar, multi-year global problem. Because of community support, St. Jude continues to fuel its ongoing $12.9 billion strategic plan that increases its global investment so as to help more of the 400,000 kids around the world who get cancer each year.

The St. Jude plan reaches beyond the United States. In December 2021, St. Jude committed $200 million to launch the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, a collaboration with the World Health Organization to source and provide high-quality cancer medicines at no cost to as many as 120,000 children in 50 countries by 2027.

Thanks to the more than 12 million active donors who give to St. Jude each year, St. Jude continues to honor its commitment to research and world-class care grounded in a founding promise: that no family receives a bill from St. Jude for their child’s treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live.

To get involved with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, visit St. Jude.org/together.