Tickets available for St. Jude Dream Home
Jaime Hilburn has been tumor-free for 15 years.
The ependymoma survivor is a living testament to successful efforts of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the community.
One such effort is the annual KTBS 3/ St. Jude Dream Home fundraiser, which directly benefits the Memphis hospital.
The home, built by Rodgers Home and Construction, valued at $350,000, is located at 105 Caiden in Turtle Creek Estates in Benton.
The KTBS 3/St. Jude Dream Home will be open to the public every weekend until Aug. 10. The hours for the open house will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The giveaway will be broadcast live from 2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 11 on KTBS 3.
Those interested in purchasing tickets can buy them at the dream home, all Citizen National Banks, Porter’s Fine Dry Cleaning, County Market and G&C Honda.
Tickets can also be purchased at dreamhome.org or by calling 1-800-724- 2423.
“I encourage the Shreveport-Bossier [City] community to purchase tickets because you may not win a home, but you will help save a life,” said Emily Miller, event marketing representative and lead staff for the KTBS 3/St. Jude Dream Home.
Without donations, giveaways and fundraisers, St. Jude would be unable to provide the free care they strive to provide. St. Jude funds a patient’s family expenses for medical costs, lodging, food and travel costs to the hospital.
Just this year alone, it will raise more than $1.4 million dollars; the operating cost for St. Jude averages $1.8 million a year.
Seventy-five percent of the $1.8 million comes from individual donations, events like the KTBS 3/St. Jude Dream Home, giveaways and various bake sales and garage sales conducted by volunteers.
“It’s a huge reason why the hospital continues to keep its doors open and have the groundbreaking research that is changing the way that pediatric cancer is treated and eventually cured,” Miller said.
I encourage the Shreveport-Bossier [City] community to purchase tickets because you may not win a home,but you will help save a life.
In addition to the state-of-the-art facilities at St. Jude in Memphis, they have international clinics, which allow doctors to treat their patients within their countries according to St. Jude’s protocols.
They are also able to work with St. Jude researchers and physicians on establishing treatment plans for certain patients.
The impact of St. Jude has been seen within Louisiana since the hospital opened in 1962; St. Jude has seen more than 6,000 patients from north Louisiana. Shreveport-Bossier City hospitals also benefit because St. Jude allows hospitals within the area, as well as worldwide, access to new protocols developed for pediatric cancer and other diseases.
Recently, KTBS 3 held its “Miracles in Memphis” special at St. Jude, which is a live broadcast that includes interviews with researchers, doctors, staff and patients.
“It’s really great because the community gets to see what St. Jude is and how incredible all the scientific breakthroughs are that are made possible because of St. Jude,” Miller said.
– Emily Pitts
