Partnership of the Heart

Tri Deltas are known for our commitment to passionately serving others, including decades of fighting to end childhood cancer. Since starting a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in November of 1999, Tri Delta collegians and alumnae have been supporting their mission of finding cures and saving children. Our tireless efforts have gone unmatched in fundraising. Quite frankly, no one does it better than Tri Delta!

For 23 years, our sisters have gone above and beyond to meet and exceed each major commitment we’ve made to St. Jude. And in true Tri Delta fashion, we’ve completed each goal in record time and ahead of schedule.

Our History of Support for St. Jude

he first major commitment to St. Jude made was in 2002, a $1 million goal across four years. In 2005, we met this goal a full year ahead of schedule, endowing the Teen Room, a haven for young patients to enjoy downtime while at the hospital.

Our second goal in 2006 seemed huge at first. We set out to challenge our members to raise $10 million in 10 years—the wildly popular “10 in 10” campaign for the Patient Care Floor in the Chili’s Care Center. Though it took our collective efforts three years to raise the first million-dollar goal, St. Jude and Tri Delta’s leadership knew our sisters would step up to make it happen. And they did! The campaign shifted from “10 IN 10” to “10 BY 10” due to the powerful fundraising efforts by our members. And in 2010, we celebrated completing this goal … four years early. What could top that? A new commitment to raise $15 million in just five years to name the Specialty Clinic, which treats all St. Jude patients, many on a daily basis. Once again, Tri Deltas showed up as we always do, completing this goal in just three and a half years.

Our Dedicated Leadership

Since our partnership began, the women on Tri Delta’s Executive Board have worked closely with St. Jude in determining the most pressing needs of the hospital, its patients and their families. In 2014, Tri Delta’s Executive Board swung for the fences with a historic goal: to raise $60 million in 10 years. In recognition of this pledge and our continued commitment, the short-term housing facility for patient families was named Tri Delta Place. This facility on the St. Jude campus houses patients and families when they first arrive at St. Jude. Every new patient family who comes to St. Jude is touched by the kindness of our members by staying in this home away from home. The figure of $60 million came about in an unconventional way. The initial idea was to raise $50 million in 10 years. At the time, in 2014, another major corporation had also made a $50 million commitment, which was then the largest commitment by any organization in St. Jude’s history. When Tri Delta raised the goal to $60 million, we became the organization with the largest commitment ever made in St. Jude history.

Past Fraternity President Phyllis Durbin Grissom, Southern Methodist, reflected on the decision. “This goal wasn’t about the amount we agreed upon. The amount was big and bold … but it was really about our members and chapters. It was about what we KNEW our members could accomplish. They had passionately completed every goal up to that point, and we wanted the goal to be big for our members. It was a tribute to them and their love for the kids and families of St. Jude.”

Our Members Made It Happen

Given our history, we expected to meet our goal ahead of schedule—until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we knew it. With 18,000 collegiate members leaving campus in March 2020, we were unsure what fundraising would look like in the future. Many major collegiate philanthropy events are held during the spring term and those plans all had to change.

In response, our brave and bold sisters took to their computers, created virtual fundraising efforts and wrote letters for the kids and families of St. Jude. Amidst the first global pandemic in their lifetimes, our members collectively still raised $6 million during the 2019-2020 academic year alone!

As students returned to campus after the pandemic, so did fundraising events. In spring 2022 we were able to make a historic announcement. At Collegiate Leadership Conference in April, we held a St. Jude Celebration evening with St. Jude leaders, patients and families, and more than 700 collegiate officers to announce that Tri Delta had completed our $60 million goal—two years ahead of schedule!

Chris Boysen, Senior Vice President at ALSAC/St. Jude, made the announcement to an overjoyed crowd of Tri Deltas. Chris went on to say that Tri Deltas raise more money for St. Jude than all 25 other NPC groups combined!

By Production Manager Jason Paul Gomez

This completed goal brings the total amount raised for St. Jude since the beginning of our partnership in 1999 to $85 million. Only four companies have raised more money than Tri Delta in the hospital’s history.

Our Truly Committed Collegians

Collegiate chapters fundraise the lion’s share of the money that goes to St. Jude. Many chapters host multiple philanthropy events through the year, often with their larger signature events held in spring. These events range in personality and style from smaller events to large-scale, mustn’t-be-missed campus staples. Chapter members and directors of philanthropy work with their regional St. Jude reps to successfully plan and execute their fundraising efforts. Some of the more popular events include DHOP/ Delta House of Pancakes, Delta Desserts and Frats-at-Bat.

The Sincerely Yours letter-writing campaign is a mainstay of our chapters’ fundraising efforts. In actuality, Sincerely Yours drives the most dollars in our fundraising, creating about 75% of the revenue. On average, this program raises $3.3 million annually for St. Jude’s lifesaving mission.

Our Alumnae at Work in Their Communities

Tri Delta’s alumnae chapters also support St. Jude by fundraising in their communities. The Fredericksburg Area, Virginia Alumnae Chapter’s signature event for St. Jude is Crop for a Cure. This scrapbooking and crafting event draws participants from all over Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Maryland and New York. Participants purchase a seat at the event where they can “park” themselves and work on their crafting projects for 14 hours. They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, all-day snacks and even an afternoon tea. There are hourly door prize drawings, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle with five big raffle items. “We are most proud of the sincerity of the event. Our success is not because of the Crop itself; it’s successful because of the way we treat our participants. We are genuine and love our event so much that participants come back year after year. To date, we have netted $534,215 for the kids of St. Jude, with an alumnae chapter of less than 30 members!” shared Alumnae Philanthropy Specialist Lisa Diskin, Toledo. Collegiate and alumnae chapters also take to the streets each fall for the St. Jude Walk/Run, typically held in September at locations across the country. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tri Delta was the top national fundraising team—despite not being able to gather in large groups for the event! Tri Delta distance runners participate in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend each December. Many of our sisters have made running the marathon an annual tradition, continuing to focus on the spirit of togetherness and sisterhood while serving others. We look forward to continuing to celebrate our partnership with St. Jude and this historic fundraising accomplishment throughout the year ahead.

Our Cover Artist

Tayde Cruz-Dodds grew up in Mexico as a healthy child, until increasing exhaustion became the norm at the age of 7. Doctors there diagnosed her with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and referred her to St. Jude for what they hoped would be life-saving treatment. She responded well to her treatments and went into a remission for more than two years. Sadly, her cancer returned—not just a second time, but a third time. This third diagnosis dramatically diminished her survival rate. Finally, after eight years of treatment, Tayde was cured of cancer by the age of 15. So inspired by her time as a St. Jude patient, Tayde began working for St. Jude to help other families the same way she had been cared for as a patient. Given the severity of her treatments, Tayde was told that she likely would not be able to conceive children. With time, patience and faith, Tayde and her husband would eventually welcome a daughter and a son, whom she calls her “St. Jude miracles.” Tayde also leads an art therapy program for St. Jude patients and families.

Her beautiful artwork featured on our cover includes Tri Delta symbols of pine trees, stars and crescent moons. It also features a home and keys because we have provided patients and their families a home away from home and Tri Deltas hold the keys to St. Jude’s heart.

“There are survivors at St. Jude because of people who want to spread good, and you are all examples of that.”