On Monday September 9th, Ashley Trotter, the Executive Director of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Southeast Region spoke at the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs luncheon. Ashley's message was heart moving. She spoke of cancer being the number one cause of death by disease in children under 14 in the United States. And also that this year nearly 16,000 children in the US will be told they have cancer.

Ashley Trotter - Executive Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital addressing the Sandy Springs Rotary Club.

Ashley spoke of the founder as an incredible visionary who believed that “no child should die in the dawn of life.”

Early in his career, as a struggling entertainer, he prayed to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost causes, “Help me find my way in life and I will build you a shrine.“In the following years, Danny’s career flourished. But he never forgot that prayer or that promise.And he decided that the shrine he would build, would be St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

When he decided to start St. Jude, his idea was cutting edge --a hospital where children could receive treatment for life-threatening diseases regardless of a family’s race, religion or financial status.

Danny rallied an army of people just like you and me to raise the funds and awareness needed to build and maintain St. Jude.

Today the St. Jude continues to conduct more clinical trials for cancer than any other children’s hospital, turning laboratory discoveries into lifesaving treatments. St. Jude collaborates with other hospitals and research institutions to expand access to our work, and to accelerate the rate of learning and discovery.

Ashley Trotter - Executive Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Photo above: Nancy Schroeder - President of the Sandy Springs Rotary Club, Ashley Trotter - Executive Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

The Rotary Club of Sandy Springs would like to thank Ashley for speaking at our club and for raising the awareness of the important work that St. Jude Children's Research Hospital does for kids all over the United States and the world.

More biographical information about Ashley Trotter can be found here: https://sandyspringsrotary.org/v2/story/3152
More information about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital can be found here: https://www.stjude.org