Celebrating Life
By Veronica Meter
In March the St. Jude Las Vegas Local Chapter unveiled its new 2014 Sculpture Collection titled Celebration of Life at The Smith Center. It marked the first new sculpture design to be unveiled since the inaugural Traveling Hearts of Las Vegas exhibit featuring a collection of 10 artistic human-heart sculptures was revealed in 2010. Local sculptor Dorit Schwartz created the pieces that were then painted by fellow world-renown and locally acclaimed artists, some of whom have a personal journey and connection with the work of St. Jude to help children who are fighting life-threatening childhood diseases, such as cancer. This was the first opportunity to view this new collection before it is displayed during the annual St. Jude Las Vegas Chapter Grand Gala on Saturday, May 3, 2014 at The Smith Center. This is a major fundraising event for the local chapter and an opportunity to participate in an unforgettable evening filled with top entertainment, dinner and fellow philanthropists. For more information on this year’s gala please visit http://stjude.org/lasvegas.
Long-time chair of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Local Las Vegas Chapter, Tanya Amid, has been driving these key events for the local community for years. She leads the Board and Committees made up of caring and involved local volunteers who serve under different capacities.
“It is so rewarding to see the community come together for this very important and critical cause,” said Amid. “It costs close to two million dollars a day to run the hospital for one day and as the Las Vegas arm, we want to ensure we help raise those necessary funds to help treat children who are battling childhood diseases.”
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way in the treatment of childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. St. Jude has the world’s best survival rate for the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it develops, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food- because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. In addition to the gala, the Las Vegas Local St. Jude Chapter also organizes an annual poker tournament. This year it will be held on Wednesday, November 5 at the Vdara Hotel & Spa.
Those interested in learning more about St. Jude’s mission are encouraged to visit stjude.org and follow St. Jude on Facebook at facebook.com/stjude, and Twitter at twitter.com/stjude.
