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Capt. Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger to be Honored at
4th Annual Palm Beach Dinner Benefiting St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital®
11-year-old from
West Palm Beach to share his triumphant
battle over cancer
Palm Beach, Fla. –
On Feb. 29, Capt.
Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger, often referred to as a hero
for safely landing a U.S. Airways jet on the Hudson River in
2009, will be honored for his humanitarian efforts and
support of the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital® at the 4th annual Palm Beach
Dinner at Club Collette in Palm Beach. Chairing the event
are Lourdes Fanjul, Talbott Maxey and Thomas C. Quick.
This intimate dinner will
celebrate the breakthrough research and care at St. Jude
during the last 50 years. Guests will have the opportunity
to sit with leading doctors and researchers from St. Jude to
learn about the latest studies and the evolution of
treatment for those fighting childhood cancer and other
deadly diseases.
“Support from
events like the Palm Beach Dinner is instrumental to our
mission,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC, the
fundraising organization of St. Jude. “We are so grateful
for the caring donors and friends, like Capt. Sullenberger,
who help us ensure that our pioneering research and
groundbreaking treatments will continue to give hope to
children and their families in communities everywhere.”
Last year Sullenberger
visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to salute some
of his heroes – children battling cancer and other deadly
diseases – and produce a
public service announcement that inspires others to get
involved.
“St. Jude children are the
epitome of faith and hope,” said Sullenberger. “I am so
grateful that I can help in the fight to end childhood
cancer through this benefit dinner because the proceeds will
fund the research and treatment they desperately need.”
Among Sully’s heroes is Brian,
an 11-year-old from West Palm Beach, who is living in
remission – thanks to the lifesaving work conducted at St.
Jude.
That work includes research
like the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-Washington
University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project. Launched in
2010, the three-year, $65 million initiative allows
researchers to better understand the genetic origins of
childhood cancer.
In the last five decades,
our researchers have helped push overall survival rates for
childhood cancer from 20 to 80 percent. St. Jude has raised
the level of cure rates for the most common form of cancer
(Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) from 4 percent in 1962 to 94
percent. Other research studies at St. Jude pushed the
survival rate among adolescents, ages 15-18, from 59 percent
to 88 percent by replacing radiation of the brain with
chemotherapy.
For more information about
the dinner, contact Erika Mayor at
(800) 278-3383,
Erika.mayor@stjude.org or visit www.stjude.org/palmbeachdinner
to purchase tickets.
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood
cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever
pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for
every child treated here, thousands more have been saved
worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has
played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer
survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the
first and only National Cancer Institute-designated
Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted to children. It is also
a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders
and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by
the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no
child should die in the dawn of life. Join that mission by
visiting
stjude.org or following us on
facebook.com/stjude and
twitter.com/stjude |