CSULB
charity event benefits St. Jude
Krystle Ralston
Online Forty-Niner
Calendar Editor
Cal State Long Beach students gathered together Wednesday night for pizza and
music, and for writing letters to friends and family asking for donations to
save children’s lives.
The event was to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis,
Tenn., a facility that pays each and every medical expense for its patients,
including traveling to and from the hospital. The cost to run this institution
each day is over $1 million.
"
St Jude is absolutely amazing," said Executive Director of St. Jude Crystal
White. "They are currently setting up their own drug plant and plan to double
their facility within 15 years."
Besides all medical care being free of charge, the atmosphere is designed to
make children as comfortable as possible. There are tricycles children are allowed
to ride down the hallways, paintings done by the patients on almost every wall
and even fish tanks that have fish that swim slowly. The reason for this is one
of the major affects of chemotherapy is nausea, and at times, looking at something
that is moving quickly can make patients feel very light-headed and sick.
The students who participated in the event had a very simple job: to bring their
address books and write letters asking for donations of $25 to $50 for the hospital
to almost everyone they knew. This is the first time CSULB has taken part in
this event.
"
Up Til Dawn is very popular in the southern states," said White. "Since
this is the first time CSULB has done this, I hope it’s not the last."
Each year, Up Til Dawn has two events, one for fundraising and the second in
celebration of how much money was raised. They have been at various colleges
throughout California, Nevada and Arizona.
Some of the CSULB organizations attending the event were the Health and Social
Services Association and the Community Services Commissions (CSC).
"
I’ve always been passionate about helping," said Andrea Espsito, a
CSC member. "When serving the community, there’s really never enough
you can do."
Also attending the event was the Loboto family, which included their young daughter
Elizabeth, who is a St. Jude patient.
"
She was diagnosed with a rare bone disease at birth, and she wasn’t supposed
to live past six months," White said. "She’s 7 years old now."
When she was born, all of her bones were broken and St. Jude was the only hospital
with the proper treatment available. St. Jude created a treatment specifically
for Elizabeth in their onsite research facility, something done often for St.
Jude patients with parental consent.
St. Jude has fundraising offices throughout the country, including one in Garden
Grove. The offices are able to stay in business because of corporate donations
and fundraising from the national offices.
The final event on May 3 will announce how much money CSULB has raised for the
hospital.
St. Jude was the first institution established for the purpose of conducting
research towards treating childhood diseases, and remains the largest childhood
cancer research center in the world.
To donate, contact Crystal White at uptildawnlb@yahoo.com, and an application
will be sent with instructions. Any donation amount is welcome.
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