September is a wild time of year for me. As a podcaster, it’s the secondmost important time of year — it’s iPhone time. As a developer,it’s the time to update my apps for the new versions of iOS/etc. Butas a human, it’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which means it’sPodcastathon time.
On this year’s show, hijinks ensued. We played “Chaos Jenga”. We playedTetris Tumble. We ate things blindfolded, occasionally paired withsome deeply unusual drizzle pairings. We built marshmallow towers, andconstructed paper airplanes (some of us better than others). We competed inzany Relay Relays. We augmented an Apple IIe and played some gameson it. We did some ridiculous drafts. We constructed a wagon. We tastedroot beers. We generally had a great time. If you haven’twatched the stream, I encourage you to do so. It’s great fun.
This was my fourth time in Memphis; it’s staring to feel — to a degree— like a home away from home. Having been on campus several times now,not a ton about St. Jude surprises me. I’ve known for many years thatSt. Jude is dedicated wholly and completely to curing childhood cancer.ALSAC — St. Jude’s fundraising arm — is dedicated whollyand completely to funding that mission.
What struck me this year — as I toured the Domino’s Village, asI worked with the incredible team at ALSAC, as I spoke with people onthe far periphery of the Podcastathon — is that everyonegives a crap. Top-to-bottom. Inside-and-out. They really give acrap. About everything they touch.
This really crystallized in me as I toured Domino’s Village. Domino’s Villageis longer-term housing right on campus at St. Jude. It gives patients andtheir families a home base for their time in Memphis. And it isn’t justone-bedroom apartments. Cancer affects an entire family, not just thepatient. Often, that means patients, caregivers, and even siblings aremaking Memphis their home, for months at a time. Domino’s Village has two-and three-bedroom apartments for exactly this reason. They’re beautiful,and nicely furnished.
But it doesn’t end there.
In St. Jude’s continued commitment to do the best for their patientsand their families, they often interview former patient families, to seehow the facilities and procedures at St. Jude can improve.
One thing that was noted was that often times, essential medicines and/orinjections have to happen at very odd hours. It’s not fun to trudge acrosscampus to the hospital, for a pill or a shot, at 2AM. One of thefeatures of Domino’s Village is a sort of nurse’s station and pharmacy,where trained professionals can distribute life-saving medicines at anytime.
Even the sections of the building that you wouldn’t expect anyone to careabout, like the area around the elevator, or the elevator itself, arethoughtfully designed. There’s a community kitchen, with multiple stovesand ovens, so families of different cultures can break bread together.I saw this during our tour, and joked that the kitchen looked like it hadnever been used, because the staff had done such a meticulous and thoroughjob cleaning it.
During some time spent with the Hacketts, I was recounting thisold-and-yet-new epiphany, and Merri re-crystallized this thought withan extremely simple comment. Paraphrasing:
Everything St. Jude does is purposeful.
That’s so true. And it extends to the ALSAC team. Everything they touch,they give 110%. They do not half-ass, and they do not take shortcuts.
It is an immense privilege to work with Jill, Jolie, and the entirerest of the team at ALSAC to make this incredible day happen. I’m sodeeply thankful to be a part of it.
Speaking of being a part of things, September is not over, and childhoodcancer has not yet been eradicated.
This year, St. Jude’s call to action is simple:
Let’s give these children more tomorrows.
Please, if you have any money to spare, consider donating right now.Last year we raised just over ONE MILLION DOLLARS for the kids of St. Jude.Sitting here now, we’ve raised over $500,000 this year. A million isn’t likely forthis year, but let’s see how close we can get.
I can think of no more worthwhile way to spend my money. I say that as someonewho has spent some money this month. If you did as well, consider takinga look at The Marco Offset. But don’t let that intimidate you —any amount helps.
Let’s give these kids more tomorrows. Please donate, if you can.
