Little Big Town members Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook fielded some hefty questions backstage before the 2019 ACM Awards. The husband-and-wife pair, who make up half of the talented foursome, sat down with Londyn, a patient at St. Jude s Children s Research Hospital, who was on hand to deliver some of life s most important questions.
Londyn first grilled Fairchild and Westbrook on a few of their favorite things, kicking off with the most important favorite of all: food. I m kind of a pizza girl, Fairchild admits, asking the 6-year-old what her favorite food is (brownies, naturally). Westbrook s favorite, by the way, is fried chicken.
Cam really digs in and investigates when she s looking for causes to get behind, but she never questions giving to St. Jude Children s Research Hospital. During an interview in Memphis as part of a past St. Jude Country Cares Seminar, the singer said this cause passed her tests with flying colors. The cool thing about what Country Cares does, is even before you realize what you re learning, you re learning that this community has taken it on to remind all of us that it is your responsibility as a human being, as a citizen of the country world, to give back, she notes. As you pick out who you re going to give back to, there are better and worse choices. And I don t feel bad saying that. There are nonprofits that are not run well, and you should question them and vet them out, and this place has yet to not answer a question 100-percent.
Why is it more important than ever to support St. Jude? That s a fair question with a simple answer.
The last year has been challenging and then some. You may have gotten sick, cared for a loved one, lost a job, struggled to pay your rent or mortgage, stretched to work and school your child at home, or worried about your family s safety every time someone knocked on the door. Our country was in turmoil, and every time we turn on the news, it s something awful again.
But as Darius Rucker recently told us, kids are still getting sick. Families are still battling cancer, and St. Jude is still fighting their battles alongside them, at no cost. St. Jude won t stop until there is no more cancer, but they need your support. They need the country music family to rally once again to ensure the world-renowned, life-saving therapy and research continues for the next 50 years.
Dierks Bentley always brings his guitar with him when he visits the St. Jude Children s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Really, he says he should be bringing a guitar case full of tissues. You go to St. Jude and you bring a guitar thinking you’re gonna help raise some spirits and make people feel better, Bentley explains to Taste of Country, and you end up walking out of there just crying because the kids are so much stronger than you are.
The singer echoes dozens of other artists who say St. Jude is a happy place. The doctors and staff strive to make sure the smallest details are attended to. Even the chef in the Kaye Kafe takes personalized orders when he can, occasionally turning them into new menu items. One former patient remembered how he d inject gummy bears with electrolytes, so vitamins tasted like candy.
They Say St. Jude Is a Happy Place, But See for Yourself
Distance and a pandemic may be keeping you from walking the halls of St. Jude, but a new virtual tour brings the experience to you. Explore the clinics, medicine rooms and social areas while you hear from former patients who are still spreading the We Won t Stop message.
The new, 360-degree St. Jude Virtual Tour allows you to discover everything that makes St. Jude Children s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., remarkable. During a normal year, the ALSAC team (the St. Jude fundraising arm) leads more than 800 tours, offering some background about why an actor chose to make building the hospital his life s mission while exploring areas like Kay Cafe, founder Danny Thomas lucky nose and the ABCs of Cancer wall.