St. Jude Gourmet Gala in Washington, D.C., celebrates 20 years

WASHINGTON, /PRNewswire/ -- More than 500 supporters of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital^® gathered at the National Building Museum on February 19 to attend the St. Jude Gourmet Gala hosted by UBS Financial Services, Inc., and chaired by its managing director and market head of Washington, D.C., Jerry Castro.

The tasting event has a 20-year history – thanks to community support – and raised about $7 million to date for children fighting cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Thanks to generous donors – families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live

Honorary Chef Chair and Charlie Palmer Steak DC Executive Chef Michael Ellis, along with other top chefs from 40 of the District’s finest restaurants, prepared the gourmet cuisine.

Guest speakers included a St. Jude cancer survivor and Richard Shadyac, Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He highlighted St. Jude achievements through its pioneering research and lifesaving treatment of children from all 50 states and around the world. In collaboration with the World Health Organization, he shared that St. Jude is working to raise the survival rate of the six most common childhood cancers to 60 percent by 2030.

The recipients of this year’s St. Jude Service Award, which recognizes one’s steadfast commitment to the hospital’s mission, included Peter J. Tanous, founder and chairman of Lynx Investment Advisors, LLC, and Thomas Wertz, senior vice president Wealth Management at UBS Financial Services, Inc., and a member of the ALSAC/St. Jude Boards of Directors and Governors.

Entertainment included a live and silent auction for one-of-a-kind items and experiences, including a luxury, five-night trip to Paris; access to the announcers’ box with Joe Beninati at a Washington Capitals game; a private dinner catered by Executive Chef at Charlie Palmer Steak Mike Ellis; and a VIP trip to the 2019 World Golf Championships-FedEx/St. Jude Invitational. Sponsors included UBS Financial Services, Inc., Airbus, Delta Airlines, Everfresh, PIMCO, BlackRock and New York Life, among others.

To learn about future events for St. Jude in Washington, D.C., visit facebook.com/stjudeDMV/.

About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.^® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, 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 or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on Twitter and Instagram and subscribing to its YouTube channel.

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SOURCE ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital