MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This month, Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® are celebrating 20 years of partnership in helping save the lives of children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Target’s dedication to children and families at St. Jude began in 1996 with a commitment to design and build Target House, the hospital’s long-term housing facility that gives patients and families a home-away-from-home while undergoing treatment. Since opening in 1999, Target House has hosted more than 4,500 families from 45 states and 47 countries and territories. While accommodating up to 98 families at a time, each apartment is fully furnished with products donated by Target and vendor partners. Staying true to the mission of St. Jude, none of these families ever receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Beyond Target House, Target has donated millions of dollars throughout the years to help fuel groundbreaking research at St. Jude, giving the world new insights into some of the most aggressive childhood cancers and helping St. Jude to improve the quality of life for survivors. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since it opened more than 50 years ago.
“Target has been an incredible part of the St. Jude family, showing unwavering dedication to our lifesaving mission for two decades,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., president and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Target’s generosity means St. Jude patients and families can maintain a sense of normalcy during treatment, because Target has provided an amazing home-away-from-home through Target House as well as unique opportunities for patients to just be kids. The magical moments and unforgettable experiences Target has created help our patients and families escape the realities of their treatments and enjoy childhood. We are incredibly grateful to Target for its 20-year partnership and look forward to many more years to come.”
In addition, over the course of the 20-year partnership, Target’s support has included:
- Target House Events: Target has thrown more than 100 St. Jude Target House events and other fun-filled carnivals, parties and more for the patients and families of St. Jude.
- Sponsorships: Target sponsors events such as the National Walk/Run to End Childhood Cancer, Fall Festival of Hope and Red Carpet for Hope. Since 2009, there have been 25 Target-sponsored events.
- St. Jude Thanks & Giving® Campaign: From 2004–2013, Target and key vendors supported the St. Jude Thanks & Giving® campaign through an in-store cause program benefitting St. Jude and Target House.
- St. Jude School: In 2010, Target sponsored and helped fully renovate the St. Jude School, a space that houses programs that continue patients’ educational growth while at St. Jude and ensure they can celebrate important milestones, such as kindergarten graduation. Through 2015, Target’s support helped continue to expand the space and update furnishing and technology.
- Target Team Member Volunteers: Thousands of Target team members around the country have gotten involved with St. Jude over the years, volunteering their time and energy to help further the St. Jude mission.
“We’re proud of Target’s longtime partnership with St. Jude and are honored to have helped the incredible patients and families at St. Jude over the past 20 years,” said Laysha Ward, chief corporate social responsibility officer, Target. “I visit Target House every year – the families that I’ve met and the hope and resilience I see in these children is awe-inspiring. On behalf of Target, I want to extend a huge thank you to the St. Jude team and all of the Target partners and volunteers across the country who have dedicated countless hours and financial resources to help St. Jude achieve their mission of saving lives and finding cures.”
The 20-year sponsorship celebration culminated last week with Target’s holiday Bullseye Bash, which was attended by Target’s Chairman and CEO, Brian Cornell, and other Target leaders. Hundreds of patients and their families had a chance to enjoy a variety of holiday-themed activities, including Nutcracker-inspired performances featuring a cast of fun characters. They also had an opportunity to meet Target’s dog mascot, Bullseye. For more on Target’s Bullseye Bash visit: https://corporate.target.com/article/2016/12/st-jude-holiday-bash.
About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at 1,803 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, which today equals more than $4 million a week. For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit Target.com/abullseyeview or follow @TargetNews on Twitter.
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@stjude).
