Helping communities nationwide is nothing out of the ordinary for Farm Bureau Insurance.
Continuing the tradition, offices across the country are partnering with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help their mission of finding cures and saving children.
Farm Bureau locations have special-made Farmer Charlie hats on sale for $10 with 100 percent of proceeds going directly to St. Jude.
Locally, residents can support the initiative by visiting Carter County Farm Bureau.
“Our staff here at the office is very honored to be part of this campaign,” said Agency Manager Tim King. “We hope the community gets behind this project. This $10 donation could make a difference in a child’s life.”
According to information provided by St. Jude, the hospital’s operating costs are $2 million, primarily covered by public contributions, with over 3,600 employees.
Based in Memphis, the hospital delves into different forms of research, including:
• Gene therapy
• Bone marrow transplantation
• Chemotherapy
• Biochemistry of normal and cancerous cells
• Radiation treatment
• Blood diseases
• Resistance to therapy
• Viruses
• Hereditary diseases
• Influenza
• Pediatric AIDS
• Psychological effects of catastrophic illnesses.
The hospital also conducts “long-term biostatistical investigations on the long-term outcomes of its patients,” according to the St. Jude website, adding that it is the “only pediatric research hospital that has been awarded a National Cancer Institute cancer center support grant.”
Cancer research is one of the hot-item issues the hospital looks to tackle. Information from the hospital indicated that cancer is diagnosed each year in roughly 175,000 children ages 14 and under worldwide and is the leading cause of death by disease past infancy for U.S. children.
Thanks to better therapies, the hospital states, more than 80 percent of childhood cancer patients can now become long-term survivors.
County agent Daniel Grindstaff added the staff is excited about participating in the initiative and know that St. Jude provides to residents. It is an important organization to be involved with, he added, with county staff being parents.
Individuals wanting to purchase a hat are encouraged to share a photo of themselves wearing the hat on social media and using the hashtag #FBITNgives to spread the word.