st judes

The idea of involving the fan clubs in the country music industry's enthusiastic support for St. Jude belonged to artist Keith Urban. In 2000, Urban burst upon the country scene, earning him the Academy of Country Music's 2001 Top New Male Vocalist Award. That year saw Urban visit St. Jude for the first time during the hospital's Country Cares for St. Jude Kids seminar, the precursor to the multitude of radiothons throughout the country. When Urban left St. Jude, what he had seen there remained with him, pushing him to become one of the Country Cares program's biggest supporters.

"One trip to St Jude will leave you with no doubt that progress is being made," Urban says. "There is no greater contribution to make in our lives than to our children, the future. In sharing their findings with hospitals all around the world, St. Jude continues to help not just the kids who are there but children and their families everywhere. This is why we initiated the Fan Club Challenge. Awareness is the key to continue and grow the support we all have for St. Jude."

In 2002, during the Country Music Association Music Festival, Urban challenged his fan club and others to raise money for St. Jude. And the clubs responded.

"For the children and families at St. Jude, one second, one small detail, one penny can make all the difference," said Keith Urban Fan Club member Wendy Godel. "(This) is our vehicle to help these courageous children. The money raised does matter, and you can see exactly where the money goes when you look into the eyes of a St. Jude patient."

Fan Club Challenge Ends With Great Success!
Fan Club Challenge for St. Jude Kids raises more than $65,000 for the hospital

Make a Fan Club Donation Today!

After a year of friendly fund-raising rivalry among country music fans, the Fan Club Challenge for St. Jude Kids will conclude next week, having raised more than $65,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. All of the clubs involved in the Challenge will be honored, and the winners will be announced at the International Fan Club Organization (IFCO) Fun Fest show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, June 8. The IFCO show helps launch the weeklong Country Music Association Music Festival, formerly known as Fan Fair, and proceeds from the event will benefit St. Jude.

Fifteen country music fan clubs participated in the Challenge, including the clubs of Keith Urban, Tommy Shane Steiner, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tracy Byrd, Mark Wills, Andy Griggs, Bryan White, Trick Pony, Gary Allan, Joe Nichols, Toby Keith, Wynonna Judd, Chad Brock, Trace Adkins and Michael Peterson.

During the Challenge, fan club members organized various fund-raisers to support St. Jude, including bake sales, spaghetti dinners, car washes and auctions. Andy Griggs and Keith Urban’s fans even created limited edition calendars featuring the artists to sell to their fellow fans. Urban, along with Fan Clubhouse president Sharon Eaves, helped develop the Challenge in 2000

“For the children and families at St. Jude, one second, one small detail, one penny can make all the difference,” said Keith Urban Fan Club member Wendy Godel. “The Fan Club Challenge is our vehicle to help these courageous children. The money raised by the Challenge does matter, and you can see exactly where the money goes when you look into the eyes of a St. Jude patient.”

The announcement of this year’s Fan Club Challenge winners at IFCO will serve as the kick-off to a revamped version of the fund-raising program. Thanks to participant feedback, the Fan Club Challenge will take on a new name – Country Fans Care for St. Jude Kids – and the competition element will be removed to encourage participation. Although the name of the program is changing, the program’s mission will remain the same: to allow fans to support their favorite artist while helping support the life-saving mission of St. Jude.

“Over the last two years, the Fan Club Challenge has been incredibly successful, but we know this new format will help the program grow by leaps and bounds,” said Teri Watson, ALSAC/St. Jude Radio and Entertainment Marketing Director. “By dropping the contest element, we can all focus on the true winners – the children of St. Jude.”

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee, was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas. The hospital is an internationally recognized biomedical research center dedicated to finding cures for catastrophic diseases of childhood. The hospital’s work is supported through funds raised by ALSAC. ALSAC covers all costs not covered by insurance for medical treatment rendered at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Families without insurance are never asked to pay. For more information, please visit www.stjude.org.

Memphis, Tenn. – December 12, 2002 – Fans of country music superstar Keith Urban have created a one-of-a-kind limited edition calendar to raise money and help children fighting life-threatening diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital?. The calendar, authorized by Urban, features photos of the artist taken by members of his fan club.
Sales of the calendar are part of The Fan Club Challenge for St. Jude Kids, a friendly, fund-raising competition between the fans of some of country music’s biggest stars. All money raised during the challenge will benefit St. Jude, the single largest center in the United States for the treatment and research of pediatric catastrophic diseases, such as cancer.
   The Fan Club Challenge, which began this fall and has already raised nearly $10,000, is the brainchild of Urban and Fan Clubhouse president Sharon Eaves, who have both been strong supporters of St. Jude. “The Fan Club Challenge was the obvious next step,” said Eaves. “We’ve reached out to radio, the music industry, the artists and it seemed logical to go to the fans. They love getting involved and are very proud to call St. Jude ‘their charity.’”
     Urban personally called on members of his fan club to join the challenge during a reception at Fan Fair. The fans took his message to heart and have responded by planning bake sales, car washes and now, creating the Keith Urban calendar.
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Country Music Fans Raise Money for St. Jude Kids—add one—
     “Thank you to everyone who, so far, has been creative and original in helping us find new ways to raise awareness and money for the kids of St. Jude,” said Urban. In just a few short weeks, Urban’s club has raised nearly $2,500, which does not yet include the money raised from calendar sales. All proceeds from the sale of the $15 calendar will be added to the total and donated to St. Jude.
Following Urban’s lead, many other clubs challenged members to step forward and join the program, including fans of Toby Keith, Tommy Shane Steiner, Andy Griggs, and Tracy Lawrence.
     The kids at St. Jude aren’t the only winners in the Fan Club Challenge. The group that raises the most money will be honored at the 2003 Fan Fair.