Up ’till Dawn, a collegiate fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, will be held at LC for the first time on November 1 from 7-11 p.m. in Wake Field House.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the only pediatric cancer treatment facility that never charges their patients’ families for care. Up ’till Dawn is a letter campaign in which LC students will come with 25-50 addresses of friends and families to ask them to support St. Jude.
The theme of the event is “Olympics – Goin’ for the Gold, Goin’ for the Cure!” Teams will vie in athletic competitions for prizes donated by local businesses. Free food will be provided by Chipotle and Domino’s on Old Forest Road. LC groups Dance Works and Steppers in Motion will be performing.
Natanis DeMascio ’13 learned about Up ’till Dawn at an all-Greek conference two years ago and wanted to get it started at LC. When she was 11, she had a 7-year-old cousin who developed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and while he didn’t go to St. Jude, research there greatly improved his survival rate. In 1964, the survival rate was just 4 percent, she said, but is now at 94 percent.
“My mom always instilled in me that it was the best charity,” Natanis said.
Natanis got an executive board of Greek students created (pictured) for Up ’till Dawn and was then invited to the St. Jude Collegiate Leadership Seminar in Memphis, Tenn., during the summer. She and Brooke Niblett ’15 were LC’s representatives. They took a tour of the hospital, met patients, heard speakers, and learned about the history of Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude.
“Actually going to the hospital was really awesome,” Brooke said, adding that she had always watched the St. Jude infomercials as a child.
For more information, contact Natanis DeMascio at just DeMascio_N@students.lynchburg.edu or Brooke Niblett at brittingham_b@students.lynchburg.edu.
