Victoria Nachman ’14
Staff Writer

Staples’s St. Jude’s Club gathered in the library on Wednesday after school to present a donation to a representative from St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

The St. Jude’s Research Hospital is a non-profit hospital located in Memphis, Tenn. that works to treat children with catastrophic diseases. According to representative Mikara Cimmino, who traveled to Westport from Boston to speak to the club, the hospital requires 1.5 million dollars per day to stay open, and runs entirely on donations. The hospital does not charge for treatment, and never turns any child away.

According to President Emily Harris, the St. Jude’s Club has raised about $2,000 this year. They have raised the money by having several bake sales, and by collecting donations for the upcoming “Give Thanks Walk” in New York City. The donations will go directly towards research to find cures for life-threatening diseases, and will pay for patients’ treatments.

Emily is very proud of her club’s accomplishments. “It was a great honor to have Ms. Cimmino come. It shows how much our club has grown from just an idea that I had to having thirty-plus members, and a representative coming all the way from Boston to see us,” she said.

Cimmino is the hospital’s representative in Massachusetts and Connecticut and was very impressed by the club’s achievements. “The efforts of the club are fantastic. In all the schools I have visited, I’ve never seen a group this big raising this much money,” she said.

The club also plans on raising more funds through their current holiday toy drive, which will provide toys to the hospital’s young patients. Additionally, the St. Jude’s “Team Up” program, a fund-raising campaign that will be initiated this year.