After 25 years and $100 million raised, Signet Jewelers decided there was only one way to celebrate its silver anniversary supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital—with a pledge to raise another $100 million for the organization.
Signet announced the new $100 million commitment on Oct. 30. CEO Gina Drosos says the company’s employees, customers, and communities are proud to participate in support of St. Jude‘s efforts to boost childhood cancer survival rates.
“Our St. Jude partnership is very much built on a shared mission,” says Drosos. “Our mission at Signet is to inspire love in the world—couples becoming engaged, families celebrating a graduation. St. Jude’s believes that no child should die in the dawn of life, and we are proud to be associated with their mission.”
Signet fundraises for St. Jude year-round in three ways: from the sale of plush puppies and bears at its stores, by accepting donations from customers at the register and online, and through employee pledges for events like the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend, the largest single-day fundraiser for St. Jude.
Drosos says Signet’s new effort will raise money for St. Jude’s After Completion of Therapy (ACT) Clinic, which provides patients with long-term care, and its LIFE Study research program. “Signet’s additional $100 million commitment to support the After Completion of Therapy Clinic and St. Jude LIFE Study Program brings the legacy of Signet’s love and generosity for St. Jude full circle in a beautiful, inspiring, and forward-thinking way,” Richard C. Shadyac Jr., president and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, said in a statement.
“With this inspiring commitment, St. Jude will continue to help children survive and thrive in its efforts to help save more of the 400,000 children around the world with cancer and other life-threatening diseases each year,” Shadyac said.
Cancer treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to over 80%, Drosos says. “That increase in the childhood cancer survival rate is a testament to the kind of breakthrough research they do at St. Jude,” she says. “More importantly, St. Jude spreads the news of their discoveries and helps other treatment centers with their work.… We together won’t stop until we can get the survival rate even higher.”
Signet rewards some team members with trips to the St. Jude campus in Memphis, and Drosos says employees often say those visits are memorable and beloved, due in part to meeting the patients who receive treatment there and hearing their stories.
Through the Signet–St. Jude partnership, Drosos has gotten to know some St. Jude ambassadors, including one little girl named Maelin, who was treated for the rare blood disease Fanconi anemia. Because of financial commitments like Signet’s, Maelin’s family will never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, Drosos says.
“She received a blood-marrow transplant and chemotherapy at St. Jude. Just thinking about how our donation could help create more treatment options like that is so inspiring,” Drosos says. “It’s so exciting to think about how we can help impact these lives not just for one moment but for a lifetime through the research we’re helping to fund.
“We’re very proud of our partnership, which is 25 years strong and already $100 million raised,” Drosos says. “But we’re also excited to push forward for our next $100 million.”
Top: This girl named Maelin is a St. Jude ambassador who received treatment at the childhood cancer hospital. (Photos courtesy of Signet Jewelers)
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