When Anna Todd was instructed by her English teacher to choose a topic for her Senior project, it did not take her long to decide. Mrs. Rusk, her Senior English teacher, had encouraged her to choose a topic about which she felt impassioned. Anna immediately committed to her project on St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital.

In 2004, Evan Sanders, Anna’s cousin and fellow senior of Pineville High School, underwent treatment at St. Jude’s for a tumor in his spine. Through Evan’s difficult ordeal, Anna was able to see first-hand what a difference St. Jude’s makes in people’s lives. She set a goal to earn $5,000 to donate to this important cause as part of her project. With such a big goal in mind, Anna had her work cut out for her, on top of all of her responsibilities as a graduating senior. To reach her goal, Anna hosted a garage sale, held a community car wash fundraiser and organized local golf tournament all to benefit St. Jude’s. When all was said and done, Anna finally found a moment to herself to tabulate the exact total from all her tireless fundraising efforts. As she counted, the $5,000 mark came and went…twice! In all, Anna’s incredible effort had netted $11,000 that would all go straight to St. Jude’s to help children like her cousin.

Anna was honored to be invited to visit St. Jude’s in person in order to present them with the check for the final amount. While there, she was also able to visit with the patients and faculty of St. Jude’s, which reaffirmed for her the importance of the groundbreaking work they do each and every day. On May 10th, Anna will walk across the stage with her cousin Evan, both graduates as part of the Pineville High School class of 2010. Anna knows that St. Jude’s helped make that possible, and she can be proud of how she has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help foster the mission of St. Jude’s for other children in need.

St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility in the world. As America’s second-largest health-care charity, St. Jude’s is a place where cutting-edge research and revolutionary discoveries happen every day; and the science never stops! All patients accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family’s ability to pay. For more information on how you, like Anna, can support the vital work at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, visit www.stjude.org.