With Friends of St. Jude groups all over the country, young professionals are helping to spread the message of St. Jude nationwide.

Although St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is located in Memphis, Tennessee, it truly is a local cause. Children with catastrophic diseases from your city and around the country have been admitted to the hospital, regardless of age, sex, race, religion or ability to pay.

While the money is raised locally by Friends of St. Jude, it is far reaching. Important research and protocols from the hospital are shared freely and immediately with medical institutions in our region and throughout the world.

• Since opening in 1962, St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and more than 70 foreign countries.

• The hospital’s daily operating costs are $1,267,349, which are primarily covered by public contributions.

• In 1962, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, was 4 percent. Today, the survival rate for ALL is 94 percent thanks to research and treatment protocols developed at St. Jude.