St. Jude’s Up ’til Dawn, a registered student organization, exceeded expectations with an event to honor the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The event raised $21,379.55 for St. Jude Research Hospital. Up ‘til Dawn was held on Jan. 30, 2015, and had more than 150 people in attendance.

Attendees “stayed up for good” by staying up the entire night to bring awareness to St. Jude’s and the children who receive treatment there.

They enjoyed free food, a performance by UA’s Trombone Studio, an hour of live music from all three a cappella organizations on campus, a fun inflatable, music provided by the Residence Hall Program Board (RHPB), team challenges, and a newspaper fashion show sponsored by the Akron Beacon Journal. Participants also shared “mission moments,” explaining why they chose to stay up all night for a good cause.

The special guest for the night was a UA student’s younger brother who was recently treated at St. Jude. Students in the organization also had a chance to discuss research conducted at the hospital.

In the eight years that St. Jude’s Up ’til Dawn has been a student organization, they have been able to raise and donate up to $245,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

A small handful of the members in the student organization are Paige Schertzinger, Ally Vidika, and Katelin Short. Alison Doehring is the organization’s campus advisor.

Large donations made to St. Jude, like our student organization St. Jude Up ’til Dawn have made, is the reason why the Children’s cancer research hospital can stay open.  Donations can be made online through their website www.stjude.org, by mail, by phone at 800-805-5856, or by giving contributions directly to St. Jude’s Up ’til Dawn at The University of Akron.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a cancer treatment center for children. They never charge for their services, which includes treatment, travel, housing and food because, according to their website, “all a family should worry about is helping their child live.”

Since their beginnings in 1962, childhood cancer survival rates have increased from 20 percent to more than 80 percent because of the research and the treatments that have been invented through St. Jude.  St. Jude has more than 67,000 patients each year, all of which who receive treatment for free.