“ NO CHILD SHOULD DIE IN THE DAWN OF LIFE”

 Danny Thomas Founder of St. Jude

Area residents can make the difference in the lives of countless children who face life-threatening diseases by getting involved in the second annual St. Jude Quincy to Peoria Run.

On August 1 and 2, 2008, 62 area runners will take turns running the 130 mile course with participants running 1.5 to 2.5 mile stretches at a time depending on the terrain. Participants don’t have to be great runners, and there is a rule that no member of the group can run faster than the slowest member.

The entire track will take about 21 hours during a two-day relay run from Quincy to Peoria. At the same time, groups of other runners from all over Illinois will converge in Peoria during the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital regional telethon. All proceeds from the run benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Each year the Quincy runners are greeted by citizens of communities such as Quincy, Mount Sterling, Rushville, Astoria and Lewistown with donations, food and drinks.

Children everywhere, including children from Quincy and the surrounding area, have benefited from the state-of-the-art research and treatment offered by St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Each year St. Jude treats 4,700 patients, 70 patients from Central Illinois being treated  in Peoria, 800 since 1972.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a world-renowned center for the treatment and research of life threatening childhood diseases, such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, and pediatric AIDS. Since the Hospital’s founding in 1962, by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, it has treated more than 17,000 children from around the world. All children are treated regardless of race, religion or ability to pay. As we continue to strive for a cure, your dollars make this endeavor possible. 

Bald

By Brian Blakley

Bald is beautiful
I see it everyday
At St. Jude it seems to be the way
Some folks might say it’s not in style
But to a St. Jude family being bald is only mild
God’s strongest angels;
Smiling, walking around
Tricycle flies out of the elevator, almost runs you down.
It’s not always happy
Sometimes things turn bad
Kids get sicker — people get sad
When times get hard
It can be hard to cope.
But a bald headed, smiling angel always gives us hope.