Let me start by saying that, no, this is not about anyone in my family or circle of friends needing the services of this amazing cancer hospital for children. Thank God for that.

My old college pal Fadi Kiameh posted this story on LinkedIn about actor Danny Thomas and how it came to be that he founded St. Jude. Read the whole thing – it’s just marvelous.

For me, the story also dredged up a whole slew of memories about St. Jude.

I went to college in Memphis, where the hospital is located, and my school hosted regular blood drives for them. That’s when I first learned about St. Jude, and also when I first began giving blood. I became a regular donor, feeling awfully proud to do my little part to help those kids. (It also didn’t hurt that I had a bit of a crush on the attractive older sister of one of my classmates, who was one of the hospital’s nurses who regularly worked the blood drives. That surely helped me overcome my fear of needles.)

I graduated and moved away, but kept giving blood to other organizations, so there was a halo effect at work there that helped others in need. (I’m O negative, the universal donor, so I’m very popular at donation centers.)

A few years later I married my college girlfriend, who was from the Memphis area, and we both got to missing the place. We moved back there just over a year after we got married.

I was still giving blood, but someone familiar with the hospital shared with me that St. Jude had to pay for blood they got from other organizations, even if it was given in the hospital’s name. So I started driving, every couple of months as I became eligible again, downtown from the western suburb where I lived to give blood directly to St. Jude. I did that for years, and they sure appreciated it.

Also during that time, the hospital began airing infomercials for fundraising. I’d seen bits and pieces of them and it was awfully moving, so I was already in a mind to donate. One evening I walked into our apartment living room to find my young bride in tears, watching one of the fundraising commercials. “Do you want to donate?” I asked gently. She nodded and smiled through her tears, and the next thing you know we were signed up for an automatic monthly donation. That was probably 25 years ago, and I’ll tell you, a monthly donation is a wonderful thing. I don’t say this to brag at all – it surely wasn’t anything I thought about at the time – but we’ve now given tens of thousands of dollars to St. Jude. I can’t think of a better place to say that about. St. Jude never charges its patients a dime.

Eventually a great job opportunity came along and we moved away from Memphis. I still give blood, but I sure miss giving it at St. Jude. But thanks to our donations, we get a monthly e-mail (thanks, Dee Briscoe!) along with snail mail updates that keep us connected with all the great things going on there.

Trust me, I count myself blessed to A) not need their services, and B) be able to help them in the little way I do.

I know I just asked you guys a couple weeks ago to donate for dental care for those in need, but if you’ve got some other cash to spare, send it on down to Memphis, will you?