Jahna Michal’s Definition of ‘Partner In Hope’

The definition of the word 'hope' according to Merrian Webster is:

The crazy part about hope is that usually there's something or someone that serves as the catalyst for the inspiration. I got the chance to visit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital last year. What hit me like a ton of bricks more than anything was the sobering fact that the children didn't need any convincing that there was hope for them. St. Jude is their best hope. They knew that.

Children are so pure, so innocent. The families through their grief and worry were focused solely on maintaining that innocence. They would have to worry about so much more if it weren't for us, the St. Jude Partners In Hope.

If you've been listening to Joe and I, you've heard that St. Jude doesn't feel like a hospital. It's a place where the children can still live their lives experiencing an element of pure joy every single day. They're receiving treatment, yes, but not in the traditional sense. St. Jude makes every single element of treatment as fun as it can be. With children there, some for days, weeks, months, or even years, it's the priority of St. Jude to not only provide treatment, but do so in a way that allows the patients and their families to live and maintain as normal a life as possible.

And there it is: 'maintain'.

When you become a St. Jude Partner in Hope, you're not instilling the hope in the kids, you're allowing them to maintain it. In actuality, you're preserving their childhood that would otherwise be taken away from them if they were anywhere else.

A Partner in Hope to me is someone who believes every single life matters. Not just life itself, but the quality of that life.

If you've never been a lifeguard, by becoming a St. Jude Partner in Hope, you can no longer say that. That's exactly what you're doing. Not only are you supporting the effort St. Jude is making in finding cures for every form of childhood cancer, but you're sustaining and maintaining the life these kids are currently living.

A Partner in Hope doesn't just wish for the best in the future, but cares about what's happening in the present. A Partner in Hope is a Gifter of Joy.

Call 1800-372-4999 to become a Gifter of Joy, a Partner In Hope.