re: St. Jude and why it is the best charity you can donate to

Not a down voter but like all charities it’s got to bring in money, which can lead to questionable practices. I had heard a while back that they are particularly aggressive in courting old folks and more willing than typical charities to fight heirs in court.

From a lengthy 2022 article:

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Its bequest operation has a broad reach, with fundraisers based across the nation and a willingness to challenge families in court over the assets their loved ones leave behind. These battles can sometimes be lengthy and costly, spending donor money on litigation and diminishing inheritances. Family attorneys who specialize in such fights say that St. Jude can be especially aggressive, often pursuing cases all the way to state supreme courts.

“At the end of it, there is very little to hold on to feel good about,” said Vance Lanier, of Lafayette, Louisiana, who won a yearslong legal battle with St. Jude over his father’s estate but not before both sides spent heavily on the case.

Court Battles
That’s where Vance Lanier found himself when St. Jude fought him over the distribution of his father’s estate. Lanier is a financial planner in Lafayette, Louisiana, who helps clients with estate and trust matters. His father, Eugene, died in December 2015. His will directed that $100,000 from the proceeds of the sale of his home go to St. Jude.

But there was a problem. The elder Lanier did not own his home, according to his son. More than a decade earlier he had placed it in a trust, with other assets, to benefit his three children. To Lanier, it was a simple matter. St. Jude was not entitled to any money from the house sale. “He had given away his assets to put into a trust,” Lanier said. “My dad did not own it. He could have changed that while he was alive, but he didn’t.”

Still, recognizing that his father did want to make a donation to St. Jude, and hoping to avoid spending money on legal fees, Lanier said he offered St. Jude $25,000 to settle the matter. The offer was rejected, according to Lanier and his attorney, and St. Jude instead pursued the matter in a yearslong court fight. St. Jude argued that the elder Lanier, through his will, “clearly directed the sale” of the property and that $100,000 of the proceeds should go to the hospital. A trial court ruled in favor of Vance Lanier. St. Jude appealed that ruling but eventually lost. The charity then asked the state Supreme Court to reverse that ruling, but the request was denied, ending the matter.

Lanier said the legal dispute was expensive for both sides. He spent $50,000 in lawyer fees.

Before the estate dispute, Lanier said he and other members of his extended family were supporters of St. Jude and had collectively donated thousands of dollars to the Memphis hospital. That is no longer the case, he said.

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Pro Publica article

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Redcross had a nice new building with fancy expensive art on the walls and high-end furniture and rugs with a bunch of people standing around doing nothing and I experienced that on more than one occasion for other storms.

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Which building were you in?

A less known fact about St Jude funding is that it's carried out by ALSAC. Founded by late comedian Danny Thomas in the late 50's for the sole purpose of founding St Jude Hospital. The full name is American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities. Thomas' family is Lebanese\Syrian Christian immigrant. Some members of that community have been quite successful. Locally in BTR we have Community Coffee.

St Jude Hospital is a great American success story in multiple ways.

Got my first st Jude ad in a long arse time 5 minutes after opening this thread.

That ProPublica piece won’t be read. Too painful to realize your God’s work mission is propped up by a bunch of scabs doing scab shite, just like the rest of the world. Rather watch the commercials and get the feels.

I mentioned our fundraiser for St Jude in a previous post. No got a message from someone who had previously donated .. because she just wanted to.

She proceeds to tell me that her child (2 or 3) is now a patient of St. Jude.

Quote: “I donated because I wanted to help these families and I never ever thought I’d be the one whose family needed the help.”

We donate annually to them and to the Shriners hospital.

Agreed. One of the few I still trust

I’ve been there
Best friends 12 yr old daughter was a patient
She didn’t make it


She wanted strawberry ice cream from baskin Robbin’s
I got it
Pulled into the parking lot

Couldn’t get out of the truck
I just sat rheee
It was overwhelming

I said well Ice cream gonna melt
Get your shite together R11

I got out went inside lasted about 3 mins till I went onto an empty room beside hers and cried like a bby.

Got it all oiur and wnt back in.

Special place.
I’ve donated evey month since then.

That was 17 years ago.

It’s 20 bucks a month, everyone here should call them now.