Good Evening! I am very excited to be here tonight and to share my St Jude experience
with all of you! Our family came to St Jude in 2004, when our daughter Madelyn Beamon was just two years old. She was diagnosed
with Stage four Neuroblastoma and had a 2 year chance of survival. We started chemo on the night of February 2, 2004 and Maddie
passed on February 2, 2008.
What we learned from this experience is that St Jude is an amazing children’s cancer
research hospital. At St Jude our family received a place to stay while undergoing treatment, Kroger gift cards, mileage reimbursement,
all medications were covered and most of all our family will NEVER, EVER receive a bill from St Jude Children‘s Research
Hospital. It is because of events like THIS St Jude Heroes event that we can share our stories and let others know why we
are so excited about raising money for this amazing hospital!
I, along with my husband Neal, founded Team Madelyn in
2008. It started as an idea to “give back” to St Jude in tribute to our daughter Maddie. We chose the St Jude
Heroes Race to do this incredible adventure because not only was Maddie a brave hero in our eyes but we thought that we knew
enough people who not only had an interest in running but loved Maddie and watched just enough St Jude commercials to know
what a great cause they were supporting!
Speaking of runners, it is a huge accomplishment for our runners to cross
the finish line after months and sometimes years of training. Our team makes signs (holding sign) like this one to cheer on
our runners in the 5K, ½ and Full to very end as they have made a commitment not only to themselves but to SJ, the
children of SJ and to our team!
This is our 3rd yr to participate in the SJ Heroes Marathon. Fundraisers
that our team has done include simple backyard BBQ’s to larger, more complex events like Wrestling Tournaments. In the
past two yrs our team ALONE has raised over 55K for SJCRH! Our BIGGEST asset is the Heroes website. I encourage our team to
go ahead and get registered for one of the races, get your user name and password, login and set up your page. The user friendly
tabs make it incredibly easy to upload photos and a message, add contacts and send out an email to everyone at once! Some
of our members also offer incentives on their fundraising page for instance, one of our team members has a condo in FL and
for every $25 you donate your name will go in a drawing for a chance to win a weekend stay at their condo. But for the most
part it’s about sending out those emails and letting people know to support your efforts!
I know there are many
Heroes here tonight, some of you who are thinking about becoming a Hero and some of our team members are here tonight as well
and I sincerely want to thank you for believing in this program and for what it means to not only me as Maddie’s mother
but to St Jude, the Thomas family and all the families you are supporting. This St Jude Heroes Program raises nearly 2 million
dollars each year for the hospital. Without each team and each Hero there would not be a St Jude Heroes Program so I am excited
and look forward to participating in my 3rd year as a St Jude Heroes team captain! Thank you and I look forward
to seeing all of you again in December! God Bless!
