Thanks and Giving®

There is one organization that I’ve never given to that I greatly admire and this may be the month to do it. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital takes the end of the year to commemorate Thanks and Giving with the help of partners like Domino’s Pizza, the Melting Pot, Dollar General, CVS, GameStop and more. In this their tenth year of the Thanks and Giving® campaign, it may be my time to give.

My son certainly won’t mind since Domino’s is his favorite pizza. Domino's is matching dollar-for-dollar all customer contributions up to a total of $250,000 and has committed to giving St. Jude’s $10 million by 2015. It’s well on its way, having raised more than $3.6 million last year. It’s got two St. Jude Meal Deal bundles that include a buck donation to St. Jude this year, one for $19.99 and another for $13.98.

There’s a place for me to eat and help St. Jude’s, too. The Melting Pot fondue restaurants are currently offering a $20 off deal to diners who make a donation to St. Jude’s as the restaurant supports the annual St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign.

For every $10 donation made to St. Jude at The Melting Pot now through Dec. 15, guests will receive a Fondue for the Kids card that offers $20 off a future purchase of $50 or more. Donations can also be made online to receive the offer at the Melting Pot’s website. One hundred percent of donations will be given directly to St. Jude.

Beginning last Friday, Dollar General customers had the opportunity to donate $1 or more to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Thanks and Giving® campaign. It goes through Dec. 15, and Dollar General and its customers have supported St. Jude by contributing more than $9.4 million to the Thanks and Giving® campaigns since 2006.

Through Dec. 7, CVS Caremark employees will encourage customers to add $1 or $3 to their purchase at the register to support the campaign.  Customers shopping online at www.CVS.com/StJude  will also have the opportunity to donate $1 at checkout. CVS/pharmacy and its customers have raised more than $37 million to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Last but not least, there’s GameStop. If you have a child aged 8 to 18 in the United States, you probably know what GameStop is. I certainly do. Through December 26, you can donate a dollar to St. Jude at GameStop.

It costs $1.9 million to operate St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital each day. The hospital provides treatment, travel, housing and food for its patients without charging them a dime. More than 75 percent of the hospital’s funding comes from public donations.

I have multiple ways to give this year since I frequent pretty much all of these places. Is there one where you can give? God Bless and have a great day!