Author: WMOI/WRAM Intern Ethan Potter
The Memphis to Peoria St. Jude Run is celebrating its 45th year, bringing runners together each summer to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
This year’s 465-mile relay is coming up later this month, and Monmouth-Roseville Junior High School Counselor Wendy Anderson will be taking part for the 12th time.
Anderson shares what makes St. Jude so special.
“The little things they do to try to make the patients feel as much at home as possible. I’ll tell this story they shared last year or the year before about one of the patients who, for obvious reasons, was refusing to eat and didn’t want to eat anything. They found out the patient’s grandmother made amazing chocolate chip cookies, as grandmothers do, right? They got the recipe and made them just like Grandma, and the patient would eat those. They try to make it feel like home. Obviously, it’s not going to be 100 percent, but they try to make it as comfortable and home-like as possible for the patients. They just do amazing work down there.”
Runners will head to Memphis on July 28th before beginning the relay July 29th and finishing in Peoria on August 1st. Anyone interested in supporting Anderson can donate through her St. Jude fundraising link or contact the station, and we can get you connected with Wendy.
