State Farm gave me an incredible, incredible, incredible opportunity with their State Farm’s Go to Bat program.

They gave me the opportunity to pick one of the 40 charities that they work with and gift to them in my name, along with MomGenerations.com, a $3000 grant . I was so blown away by the amazing opportunity that State Farm gave me.

I chose to donate my $3000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Something inside of me just felt right about connecting with St. Jude and being able to do something that I couldn’t do on my own financially for them. This opportunity will also turn into something more for me and my family because I’d like to continue to work with St. Jude and do what I can to donate money and awareness.

I had the pleasure to chat with a spokesperson at St. Jude and am so excited to pass along our interview…

1. Tell me a little about St. Jude.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The hospital’s research has helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when the institution opened in 1962, to almost 80 percent today. It is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children, and no family ever pays St. Jude for care.

2. Why were you excited to be a part of State Farm Go To Bat program as one of their charities?
St. Jude has enjoyed participating in State Farm’s Go To Bat campaign for the last two years. The Go To Bat campaign is a fun way for our donors to support St. Jude while enjoying an engaging online experience. It also has given us the opportunity to share our St. Jude mission with the State Farm customer as well as raise funds for the lifesaving work being conducted at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We look forward to participating in the Go To Bat campaign for many years to come.

3. What message are you hoping to spread with this?
We say that St. Jude is a beacon of light in a family’s darkest hour and that we are a national resource with a global impact in the fight against childhood cancer.

4. Do you know what the $3K grant $ will go towards?
First off, thank you again for your support! Our world-class research and our first-class patient care are possible because of the generous support of people like you and your readers. It costs $1.7 million to operate the hospital every day and more than 75 percent of that funding comes from the public. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance and no child is ever denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay. Programs like State Farm’s Go To Bat program and blogs like yours help us spread our mission to a wider demographic, including sports enthusiasts – a group that we feel is a key to our continued success.

5. Why are you so passionate about St Jude?
Many of us here at St. Jude are inspired by the mission of finding cures to save lives, but we are also inspired by our founder, the late Danny Thomas, who believed that “no child should die in the dawn of life.” Danny envisioned St. Jude as a place where scientists and doctors would work together, under one roof to find the cures that would save precious lives. Our inspiration wears size 5 sneakers and laughs at knock-knock jokes – the kids.

I cannot thank State Farm enough for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

I am so thankful for this!

xo