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Pediatric cancer centers are in every major city these days. In an effort to keep kids healthy, the amount of time spent on cancer research is at an all-time high. Fortunately, the research has paid off.
Today, many children survive cancer thanks to this research. Thousands of people and corporations are committed to supporting philanthropic medical centers like St. Jude.The best way to move forward is to provide hope for the future. And that’s exactly the type of work that St. Jude is involved in. St. Jude is one of the premier pediatric cancer research centers on the planet.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- How to Donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memory of Someone Else
- How to Create a St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital Memorial Fund for a Loved One
Some St. Jude donations are from philanthropists. But other donations come from people who want to keep their child’s memory (or someone else’s memory) alive. It’s a real way to ensure that a child’s life makes a difference in the fight against cancer.
How to Donate to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memory of Someone Else
St. Jude has multiple donation options. You can donate in memory of someone or you can donate in honor of someone.
This provides options for every experience. If a child you loved died battling cancer, the memory option would be fitting. But if you’d like to honor someone’s strength and survival and still fund cancer research, the honor option works, too.
1. Donate online
St. Jude offers multiple ways you can donate. You can do so over the phone, through the mail, or online. Let’s say you choose to donate online.
Go to St. Jude home page and click on the red “Donate Now” button in the top right corner. You’ll be directed to a page named “Make a donation to end childhood cancer.”
2. Name your preferences
Would you like to make a monthly donation? This type of reliable, ongoing support is what keeps St. Jude alive. But if you’d prefer to make a one-time donation, it can be used to help sick kids everywhere.
The donation form is relatively straightforward. You’ll need to select how often you’d like to donate — whether you go for a recurring donation or one-time only.
After you do that, select the amount. St. Jude includes common prewritten amounts: $50, $100, $1,000, or you can type in a custom amount as well.
3. Dedicate your donation
Below the amount section, you can click the box that says “Dedicate my donation.” Once you do, you’ll see a drop-down menu that allows you to pick. You can click “in memory of” or you can select “in honor of.”
Type your loved one’s first and last names into the appropriate boxes.
4. Send a card
If this is a sympathy gift for a family you know, sending a card is appropriate. This notifies them of the gift you’ve made in their child’s honor. And that can be especially heartwarming during a difficult time.
You have three choices. First, you can ask St. Jude to mail a physical card. Or, you can send an email through the donation page. You can also let your gift remain anonymous, and not let the family know about it at all. In that case, you can choose not to send any notification.
The card design provided by St. Jude is simple. It informs the family that a donation has been made, explains what St. Jude does, and provides space for a personalized message. That lets you say your own comforting message.
You can combine a financial donation and a sympathy card in lieu of flowers. Trying to brainstorm ideas that don’t seem overdone? Memorial donations are a great solution that contributes to the lives of future children.
Pairing a St. Jude donation with another memorial gift, like a memorial diamond, is a powerful way to show support. Eterneva specializes in unique, one-of-a-kind memorial diamonds so you can hold your loved ones close no matter where life takes you.
5. Insert payment information
Once you’ve crafted your sympathy card, it’s time to input your payment information. The St. Jude online portal accepts PayPal, Amazon Pay, checks, or credit cards. Once you’ve given your financial and billing information, click the “Donate” button at the bottom of the page.
Before you do, check the final box. Do you want to receive emails, updates, and newsletters from St. Jude? If so, be sure to click the box. When you do, you might receive a thank you letter for donating.
How to Create a St. Jude Children’s Hospital Memorial Fund for a Loved One
Are you familiar with popular crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe or Kickstarter? They’re a great way for people to leverage philanthropy and mass giving. We’ve all heard the stories—someone starts a touching crowdfunding campaign and gets enough money to pay all of his or her medical bills. But that doesn’t happen for everyone.
Funding for St. Jude works a little differently. Its promise is that it will never send a patient or family a single bill. St. Jude knows that focusing on your child’s life, not on finances, is paramount. But none of St. Jude operations, from day-to-day expenses to surgeries, happen for free. That means St. Jude relies on contributions.
1. Find a fund
Crowdfunding and St. Jude funding works differently. That’s because the funds don’t go directly to your loved one. There’s no need since treatment and travel are free. The funds go to St. Jude as an organization. That means your funds go to help kids across the country, wherever there are St. Jude centers.
Finding a fund might be enough. You might not need or want to create one. So if you’d like to contribute to someone else’s fund, go to the St. Jude Gift Fund page. Then, click “Find A Fund.” Once you do, enter the name of the fund you’re looking for.
If you know a family member or a friend’s fund name, type it in. If you don’t, generic terms like “child” or “cancer” will also bring up fund options for you.
2. Create a fund
St. Jude makes it easy to create a fund. Go to the St. Jude gift fund page and click “Create Fund.” You’ll need to create an account using a username and password. Once this is done, pick the type of fund you’d like.
Your options are honorary or memorial funds. If you select the memorial choice, your fund will be categorized in honor of a deceased loved one. If you select honorary, your fund will be earmarked as one in honor of someone still fighting.
Once you do this, personalize your fund. St. Jude suggests that you include an image and a story. You can do a photo of your entire family together or you could take a photo of your child. Either one works!
Once you’re done, sketch out your story. Since you’re not trying to solicit donations for your child, it doesn’t need to be incredibly specific. But sharing your child’s story will help donors understand what sick kids everywhere are going through.
Finally, make an effort to share it online. Even if your social media page doesn’t have thousands of followers, it can still make a difference! Try sharing it and see what happens. Your followers can reshare it, and your campaign will gather momentum.
Making a Donation for Childhood Cancer
Everyone starts end-of-life planning differently. Some people prefer to be remembered in traditional ways, with a big funeral and hymns and flowers. Others prefer less traditional memorials. On the other hand, many people with terminal illnesses are determined to make the cycle stop. Funding research for philanthropic centers like St. Jude means that more kids can get better.
Want to be remembered with a memorial donation? Write it down. That way, your loved ones know exactly what to do.
There are so many ways to honor a loved one, both while they're here and after they're gone. While a donation is always welcome and appreciated, you can also personalize their legacy with your own forms of remembrance. A custom urn from Foreverence helps keep them in your thoughts for years to come, whereas a donation made yearly is another longstanding contribution. There is no 'right' way to remember, so follow your own heart.
Sources
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Make a donation to end childhood cancer. n.d., www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html?sc_icid=header-btn-donate-now
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Gift Funds for St. Jude.” n.d., fundraising.stjude.org/site/SPageServer/?NONCE_TOKEN=4C81BCEA8D28E0625CEFC7CB619F6EDD&pagename=personal_home&sc_icid=memorials-create-fund
