Poplar Bluff Schools donates historic $1.26M to St. Jude over 37 years
St. Jude Math-A-Thon fundraising totals for Poplar Bluff Schools were reported at $35,838.17 for the 2024/25 school year, bringing the all-time district total to a historical $1.26 million contribution to the children’s research hospital.
“It’s always a great day to be a Mule,” said O’Neal Elementary Principal Shelly Ridens, district-wide St. Jude fundraising coordinator. “But I am extremely proud of our district that we are able to help in the research and care of children!”
The top three fundraising students, grades K-8, bringing in upward of $1,000 individually, were rewarded with a field trip to Sky High Fun Zone at the end of the last school year. Prior to the pandemic, winning students were able to tour the hospital in Memphis.
The district has participated in Math-A-Thon since the 1988/89 school year under past O’Neal Principal Lorenzo Sandlin to teach students the importance of charity and having empathy. The fundraiser went district-wide by 1994/95, with each building contributing in some capacity, raising a record high of $47,748 in 2017, surpassing the million-dollar mark by the following year.
While some school systems may have donated more in a given year, holding a district-wide fundraiser for 37 consecutive years is an exclusive record held by Poplar Bluff, confirmed Ann Culpepper, St. Jude liaison for development and donor engagement. "Even though you had your horrible weather event and others, you came through for the children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital," she stated.
According to the St. Jude website, the hospital serves approximately 8,600 children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses annually, and their families never receive a bill for care, travel, housing or food. Since the hospital opened its doors in 1962, the overall childhood cancer survival rate has dramatically increased from 20 to more than 80 percent due to treatments developed there.
###
Cutline: Treated with a recent field trip to Sky High, top Math-A-Thon fundraising students included (in alphabetical order) Adam Allen, Carter Battles, Axel Berry, Ophelia Berry, Elijah Cisne, Kensington Clark, Cameron Crews, Kea’vin Dorsey, Ki'Mora Ferguson, Kallie Harris, Natalya Johnson, Josiah Joseph, Haylee Leighton, Eva Murphy, Jace Norman, Audrey Padilla, Wyat Prewitt, Brady Ray, Kynnadi Romine, Miles Sandlin and Maren Wright.