"Sara Beth is scared to death..."

Today and tomorrow, Country 102.5 (WKLB) is hosting the Country Cares for St. Jude's Kids radiothon at Jordan's Furniture in Reading, MA. They are working to raise monetary donations to give to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. St. Jude's is a hospital whose sole purpose is the research and treatment of catastrophic children's diseases. Their primary source of funding comes from donations, a large portion of which are generated by radiothons such as this one and are held by various radio stations all over the country all year.

I have a strong belief in the work that St. Jude's does because I truly feel that EVERY child deserves a shot at their youth and life. Diseases such as the ones that St. Jude's treats strip children of their youth at such a tender age and cause them to deal with their own mortality much younger than they should have to - sometimes as young as 1 or 2 years old. If St. Jude's is able to continue their work, maybe one day these diseases will be at the least more manageable and at the very best eliminated or cured.

Steve and I started to donate last year when I volunteered at the radiothon and Steve signed up to become a Partner in Hope (a commitment to donate a certain amount or more each month for a 1-year period). When you become a Partner in Hope, you receive a mailing every month with a picture and brief story of one of the children that has been helped by the work that St. Jude's does. These mailings have inspired Steve and I to continue to donate, and this year we will be renewing our Partner in Hope in the memory of Lauren Liccardi. Lauren was a good friend to my youngest sister Becky who lost her life last year to leukemia.

Each year the radiothon hopes to beat their prior year total. I don't remember the exact number that was raised last year, but I know it was well over $500,000 during the 2-days. It would be amazing if they were able to raise enough money to beat last year's number during the next 2 days (March 8 & 9, today and tomorrow).

If you are able to donate this year, please call 800-963-HOPE today or tomorrow between 6:00 AM and 9:00 PM. If you are not able to donate this year, please keep the Country Cares radiothon(s) in your thoughts and prayers so that St. Jude's may continue their great work towards fighting catastrophic childhood diseases. And of course, keep the children of St. Jude's (and all children fighting catastrophic diseases everywhere) in your thoughts and prayers.

For more information about the radiothon, go to http://www.wklb.com/Events/StJudesRadiothon/tabid/186/Default.aspx.

For more information about St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, go to http://www.stjude.org.

To listen to the radiothon, go to http://www.wklb.com or tune in to Country 102.5 on your Boston-area radio.