When St. Jude Children's Research Hospital opened in Memphis in 1962, it did something the surrounding South did not: it integrated on day one, treating Black and white children in the same rooms and dining halls at a time when the city around it was still segregated. [4] That founding decision came from an unlikely place, a promise a struggling young entertainer named Danny Thomas made to a Catholic saint. Today St. Jude is a leading pediatric cancer and catastrophic disease research hospital, and it is built on a pledge that still defines the brand: families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing, or food. [1][2] The charity most people give to is technically ALSAC, the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, the separate fundraising organization that supplies the large majority of St. Jude's money. [3]
- When St. Jude opened in Memphis in 1962, it was the first fully integrated children's hospital in the South, treating Black and white children in the same rooms while the city around it was still segregated.
- The original star-shaped hospital was designed, and donated, by Paul R. Williams, the pioneering Black architect, who drew it without the segregated facilities that were standard in the region at the time.
- The charity most people give to is technically ALSAC, a separate fundraising organization founded in 1957 that raises the large majority of St. Jude's money and provides an estimated 89 percent of what it costs to run.
- Neither St. Jude nor ALSAC runs a PAC or gives to candidates; its documented lobbying is for pediatric research and children's hospital funding, an area with bipartisan support.
- The sharpest public scrutiny of St. Jude has been financial rather than political: a 2021 ProPublica investigation reported a reserve that had grown to about $7.6 billion by mid 2021.
Quick Take
Much of St. Jude's political profile is set by law. As a 501(c)(3) public charity it is barred from partisan campaign activity, so there is no political action committee, no contributions to candidates or parties, and no endorsements to examine. [1] What advocacy it does is issue based and centered on funding for pediatric cancer research, an area with deep bipartisan support. The organization does, however, sit close to Washington in one practical sense: it receives federal research grants and is exposed to shifts in US science and health funding policy. [8] The sharpest public debate about St. Jude has not been political at all, but financial, over how much of its enormous fundraising haul sits in reserve.
A Promise Made to a Saint
Danny Thomas, a Lebanese American entertainer, prayed to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes, and vowed to build a shrine if he found his way in life. [2] He kept the promise. To fund it, he turned to fellow Americans of Arab speaking heritage, who in 1957 formed ALSAC as the hospital's dedicated fundraising and awareness arm, five years before the hospital opened its doors in 1962. [3] Thomas died in 1991, and his daughter Marlo Thomas has long served as a national outreach director. [2]
That 1962 hospital was, by St. Jude's own account, the first fully integrated children's hospital in the South. Its star-shaped original building was designed, and donated, by Paul R. Williams, the pioneering Black architect, who drew it without the segregated facilities that were standard in the region at the time. [4][12] St. Jude also hired Black physicians, among them Dr. Rudolph Jackson, who helped build its sickle cell program, and when a Memphis hotel refused to house Black patient families, hospital director Donald Pinkel told it that no St. Jude family would stay there until the policy changed. The hotel relented. [12]
The two organizations still operate side by side: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital provides the care and research, while ALSAC raises an estimated 89 percent of the funds needed to run it. [1][3] St. Jude's president and chief executive, James R. Downing, MD, announced in February 2026 that he will step down in late 2026, having led the hospital since 2014, with a successor to be named. [9] ALSAC is led by president and chief executive Ike Anand, a former Expedia executive who took the role permanently in July 2025, succeeding Richard Shadyac Jr., who had led the fundraising arm for fifteen years. [10]
Where a Charity Meets Washington
Because St. Jude and ALSAC are public charities, their political footprint looks nothing like a corporation's. Federal law prohibits 501(c)(3) organizations from supporting or opposing candidates, and as public charities neither the hospital nor ALSAC operates a PAC or gives to candidates or parties. [1][11][13] St. Jude's own 2024 tax filing reports no political campaign activity; what it does report is lobbying. St. Jude runs an Office of Government Affairs, and its documented advocacy centers on federal funding for children's hospitals and pediatric research, including the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program. [11] On the federal lobbying record it reported $100,000 in 2024 and has filed such disclosures across recent years. [7] The organization's engagement with government is otherwise about money for research and care: it competes for federal research grants and, as its own leaders have acknowledged, must navigate an increasingly complex US funding landscape as health and science policy shifts. [8] St. Jude enjoys unusually broad bipartisan goodwill, regularly praised by lawmakers of both parties.
The clearest values statements on the record are the organization's own. Its founding mission holds that no child is denied treatment based on race, religion, or a family's ability to pay, a principle it traces to Danny Thomas and put into practice by integrating the hospital at its 1962 opening. [4][2] ALSAC has also publicly described a focus on diversity and inclusion in its workforce. [1] RedRightBuyer found no partisan activity, candidate giving, or positions on contested US political issues attributable to the organization.
The Money Question
The most sustained scrutiny of St. Jude has been financial rather than political. A 2021 ProPublica investigation reported that the charity had accumulated a reserve fund of about $5.2 billion as of mid 2020, and that of $7.3 billion in contributions over five years, roughly half went to research and patient care, about 30 percent to fundraising, and about 20 percent to the reserve. [5] Follow up reporting found the reserve had grown to about $7.6 billion by June 2021. [6] ProPublica also noted that most St. Jude patients carry private insurance or Medicaid, generating reimbursements, even as some families said they struggled with indirect costs. [5] By the hospital's own fiscal 2024 tax filing, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital reported about $2 billion in revenue, nearly 92 percent of it from contributions, and about $11.3 billion in net assets. [11]
St. Jude has defended its model, saying it is heavily donor dependent and subject to the swings of charitable giving, that a reserve is prudent for an institution that costs more than $2 billion a year to run, and that it is advancing a $12.9 billion six year strategic plan to expand care and research. [1][8] These are questions of stewardship and operations, not political signals, but they are the thing a curious donor is most likely to encounter.
What St. Jude Does
St. Jude treats and studies childhood cancer, sickle cell disease, and other catastrophic pediatric conditions, seeing more than 8,000 patients a year at its Memphis campus, most as outpatients. [1] It shares its research findings freely so that doctors and scientists worldwide can use them, and its global program aims to raise pediatric cancer survival rates internationally. [1] ALSAC raised more than $2.5 billion for the hospital in 2024, making it one of the largest health charities in the country. [8]
Recent News
The organization is in the middle of a leadership transition at the hospital, with Downing set to depart in late 2026, even as ALSAC's new chief executive pushes a more data driven, technology forward fundraising approach and the two organizations advance their $12.9 billion plan amid uncertainty over federal research funding. [8][9]
Where to Find Them
St. Jude is based in Memphis, Tennessee, with ALSAC fundraising offices in more than 30 locations across the United States and Puerto Rico. Donations and information are handled at stjude.org. [3]
Footnotes
[1] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, "What is St. Jude?" and "How St. Jude Works: Our Operating Model," accessed August 20, 2026. https://www.stjude.org/about-st-jude/unique-operating-model.html
[2] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, "How St. Jude began" and "Danny Thomas," founder history, accessed August 20, 2026. https://www.stjude.org/about-st-jude/history/how-we-began.html
[3] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, "ALSAC: American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities," accessed August 20, 2026. https://www.stjude.org/about-st-jude/history/alsac.html
[4] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, "The first fully integrated children's hospital in the South," news release, 2023 (Feb. 4, 1962 opening as the first fully integrated children's hospital in the South; hired Black doctors including Dr. Rudolph Jackson), accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.stjude.org/media-resources/news-releases/2023-fundraising-news/the-first-fully-integrated-childrens-hospital-in-the-south.html
[5] Botti, David, and Ryan Gabrielson and others, "St. Jude Hoards Billions While Many of Its Families Drain Their Savings," ProPublica, November 2021. https://www.propublica.org/article/st-jude-hoards-billions-while-many-of-its-families-drain-their-savings
[6] "St. Jude Stashed Away $886 Million in Unspent Revenue Last Year," ProPublica, June 2022 (reserve of about $7.6 billion by June 2021). https://www.propublica.org/article/st-jude-stashed-away-886-million-in-unspent-revenue-last-year
[7] "St Jude Children's Research Hospital Profile: Summary," OpenSecrets (federal lobbying $100,000 in 2024 and $120,000 in 2018; no PAC and no candidate contributions by the organization), accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/st-jude-children-s-research-hospital/summary?id=D000057099
[8] "St. Jude Children's Hospital's fundraising arm selects new CEO in midst of global expansion," Associated Press via The Hill, July 8, 2025 (Ike Anand named ALSAC CEO; more than $2.5 billion raised in 2024; $12.9 billion plan; complex US funding landscape). https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-business/ap-st-jude-childrens-hospitals-fundraising-arm-selects-new-ceo-in-midst-of-global-expansion/
[9] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, "James R. Downing, MD, to step down as president and CEO of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in late 2026," February 19, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/james-r-downing-md-to-step-down-as-president-and-ceo-of-st-jude-childrens-research-hospital-in-late-2026-302692860.html
[10] "Ike Anand Elevated to CEO of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Fundraising Organization ALSAC," Variety, July 9, 2025. https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/ike-anand-expedia-st-jude-childrens-hospital-alsac-1236450398/
[11] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, IRS Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 (Schedule C: no political campaign activity, lobbying reported through an Office of Government Affairs and CHGME advocacy; Part I: revenue about $2.01 billion, about 91.6 percent from contributions; net assets about $11.32 billion), accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.stjude.org/content/dam/en_US/shared/www/about-st-jude/financial-information/st-jude-financials-990-irs-form-2024.pdf
[12] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, "Architect of hope: Paul Williams" and "St. Jude in the civil rights era," accessed August 25, 2026 (Paul R. Williams designed and donated the original star-shaped building without segregated facilities; Dr. Rudolph Jackson among the first Black doctors, helped establish the sickle cell program; hotel-integration ultimatum by director Donald Pinkel). https://www.stjude.org/get-involved/other-ways/saving-all-kids/architect-of-hope.html
[13] American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), IRS Forms 990, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (EIN 35-1044585; as a 501(c)(3) reports no political action committee and no candidate or party contributions; its fiscal 2024 return includes a Schedule C reporting lobbying activity), accessed August 25, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/351044585
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