Best Buy customers and employees helped raise more than $18.2 million during the holiday season for the research and treatment of childhood cancer
MINNEAPOLIS (February 22, 2017) – Thanks to its generous customers and supportive employees, Best Buy is proud to have presented more than $18.2 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® and to have finished as the largest St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign donor this holiday season.
“We are deeply grateful to Best Buy, its dedicated employees and the customers who demonstrated a tremendous commitment to our lifesaving mission by raising an astounding $18.2 million during the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Thanks to this support, St. Jude will continue to lead the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”
Best Buy’s contribution increased by nearly 80 percent over a year ago. Since welcoming the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign into our stores and online four years ago, Best Buy has helped raise nearly $40 million.
“Our customers and employees care deeply about supporting research and treatment for childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Thanks to them, we are humbled to be able to present more than $18.2 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” said Paula Baker, Best Buy’s chief human resources officer. “We’re grateful for the generosity and passion of our customers and employees during the holiday season.”
This year’s Best Buy contribution makes a difference. The $18.2 million can run the hospital for more than a week. It can also be used for 12,000 days of chemotherapy or 3,600 days of intensive care costs. Every dollar donated by customers and employees helps St. Jude remain a leader in the global effort to research, treat and defeat childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
“Best Buy’s support is nothing short of extraordinary and allows our doctors and scientists to continue our lifesaving work,” said Marlo Thomas, National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Funds raised as a result of Best Buy’s commitment and participation in the St. Jude Thanks and Giving campaign help ensure no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for anything – not for treatment, travel, housing or food, because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.”
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital:
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.
About Best Buy:
Best Buy is a leading provider of technology products, services and solutions. The company offers expert service at an unbeatable price more than 1.5 billion times a year to the consumers, small business owners and educators who visit our stores, engage with Geek Squad Agents or use BestBuy.com or the Best Buy app. The company has operations in the U.S. where more than 70 percent of the population lives within 15 minutes of a Best Buy store, as well as in Canada and Mexico, where Best Buy has a physical and online presence.
Media Contact:
Holly Cooper, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 901-573 0309, holly.cooper@stjude.org
Danielle Schumann, Best Buy, 612-231-5146, press@bestbuy.com