Rotarian Seth Huddleston, principal at South Fork Elementary updated the West Plains Sunrise Rotary Club on Thursday regarding South Fork’s fundraising efforts for St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Partnering with K-Country 95 radio station, South Fork’s 135 students’ first efforts in 2009 resulted in contributions of $550.
The students accepted the challenge of kids helping other kids, Huddleston said, and through additional partnerships and with the help of the South Fork community, 2021 saw total contributions of over $20,000. Last year’s goal was to meet the 2021 number, but with the teachers’ and community’s hard work, donations of items for a fundraiser auction, “and with folks paying way more on something they didn’t need,” $24,500 in funds were raised.
This year’s goal is $25,000, with about $10,000 having already been raised toward that goal, said Huddleston. The final tally will be made in February.
Huddleston told Rotarians costs about $1.4 million each day just to keep the St. Jude doors open, and children’s research hospital’s research data is shared with other institutions around the world.
Several youths in the local area have benefited from the work at St. Jude Children’s Hospital, including 2022 Zizzer grad Connor Lair, a kindergarten student when Huddleston first started at South Fork. Lair is currently being treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma at St. Jude, which treats patients age 21 and younger.
St. Jude does not charge for treatment, housing, food or transportation for their patients or their families. Seth pointed out that almost everyone wants to be part of something greater than themselves, and by contributing to St. Jude, donors are part of the global effort to put an end to childhood cancer.
