The Cost of Running St. Jude – What Your Donation Helps Cover

For argument sake, let's say you've made the commitment to become a Partner in Hope with St. Jude. If you haven't, there's still time to do so online. But once you make that commitment, where does your $20 per month go?

St. Jude is not immune to the continually rising cost of health care. The daily operating cost currently sits at $1.8 million. Read that again. $1.8 million dollars. Per. Day. The average cost for treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer, is $546,229 per patient.

Radiotherapy, the average course of treatment for brain tumor patients, can run anywhere from $90,000 to $104,000. Physical therapy runs $516 per hour. A complete blood count test is $132. Blood transfusions cost anywhere from $65 to $245 per unit of blood depending on the type of procedure. The average cost of a CT scan is just over $6,000.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea, and I don't want to bombard you with so many numbers your eyes start to cross. The point of course, is that it takes a huge sum of money for St. Jude to continue their fight against childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases. It's a fight you can join by becoming a Partner in Hope during our annual radiothon by calling 1-800-942-8731 today (February 22nd, 2013). If you happen to be reading this after February 21st, you can still become a Partner in Hope anytime of the year by making your commitment online.