By admin 
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Tickets are about to go on sale for Tucson’s St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, marking the first time the giveaway has come to Tucson.
Read more Woman killed at Tucson apartment complex had injuries to face, neck, arms, legs and body
You can buy your ticket HERE, sign up for updates on the contest HERE, or donate to St. Jude anytime by going HERE.
13 News is partnering with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the giveaway, which gives ticket buyers a chance to win a home while raising money for the hospital.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
- St. Jude Dream Home breaks ground in southern Arizona
- Tucson’s first St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway offers chance to win nearly $1 million home in Catalina
- St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway supports childhood cancer research, offers chance to win Tucson home
Danny Thomas founded St. Jude more than 60 years ago
St. Jude was founded by Danny Thomas, who was known for his career in comedy and television before starting the hospital. Thomas envisioned a hospital where no child is denied treatment.
According to legend, Thomas offered his last dollars to Jude, the Patron Saint of Lost Causes, while at church. Thomas, who was struggling as an entertainer, landed his first big job the next day.
Thomas opened St. Jude in Memphis in 1962. The hospital started at 85 square feet with 120 patients. Today, St. Jude is a 63-acre campus with multiple buildings. Only the most serious cases are treated on site, and much of the campus is dedicated to research.
Research shared globally, including in southern Arizona
According to the hospital, research conducted at St. Jude spans beyond childhood cancer into other illnesses and is shared globally, including in southern Arizona.
Dr. Stephanie Wu, lead researcher at St. Jude, said donations allow the hospital to conduct research that would be difficult to do elsewhere.
“The donations that St. Jude receives allow us to do research that is so challenging to do anywhere else,” Wu said. “It enables us not only to recruit the best talent, the best minds, but also to reduce some of the roadblocks we have to doing research, making sure that we have state-of-the-art equipment, state-of-the-art staff to help maintain equipment, and really that we are not inhibited by any sort of reasons… financial reasons like that to do the research that we need to do to make these huge clinical breakthroughs.”
Read more Mom and sister testify about Lindsay Clancy’s declining mental state before she killed her children
Research breakthroughs have helped raise the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% when St. Jude opened to more than 80% today.
Former patient works to raise money for hospital
Tayde Cruz-Dadds, a former St. Jude patient who now works for the hospital, is among those who have benefited from those breakthroughs.
She traveled from Mexico for treatment at St. Jude and met Thomas during her treatment.
“He was a very good man, and my mom told me who he was and I never forgot,” Cruz-Dadds said.
Cruz-Dadds now works to raise money for the hospital.
“Being able to provide events that will let them forget a little bit of what they are going through,” she said.
Proceeds from St. Jude Dream Home ticket sales go toward ensuring families do not pay for treatment, housing, food, or travel.
Thomas said, “No child should die in the dawn of life.”
Are you streaming 13 News?
Watch a free live stream of Tucson Now and 13 News at TucsonNow.Live.
Be sure to download the free Tucson Now app, which you can find on Apple and Google.
If you are using a desktop computer, you can use your mobile device to scan the QR code below.
Read more ABC sues FCC over challenge to its broadcast licenses, saying actions present ‘existential threat’
You can submit your breaking news or weather images here.