LANETT — A Miracle Walk-a-Thon for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was held in Lanett’s West Shawmut community on Saturday, June 9. Five walkers raised a total of $1,818.

Essie Mae Harris has coordinated these fundraisers for St. Jude since 1979. Joining her in this year’s walk were Gloria Jones, Vivian Nelloms, Emmie Williams and Tommy Lee Woody.

The motto of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital is “Most men dream dreams, but only a few see their dreams come true.” Danny Thomas had a dream and from that dream grew a miracle – St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas in 1962. It’s today the largest childhood cancer research institution in the world and is fulfilling the promise and dream of its founder by working to alleviate childhood diseases.

Donations help St. Jude continue its mission of finding cures and saving children who are battling cancer and other deadly childhood diseases.

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing of food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. St. Jude’s purpose is clear: finding cures and saving children.

Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 60 percent since it opened 56 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and St. Jude officials won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.

Since the majority of St. Jude’s funding comes from individual contributors, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most – saving kids regardless of their family’s financial situation.

St. Jude thanks Essie Mae Harris for her longtime efforts to help St. Jude in its continuing efforts to find cures. She raised a total of $525 in this year’s walk at the Drew Ballfield in Lanett.

Also thanked are Tommy Lee Woody, who raised $443; Vivian Nelloms, who raised $410; Gloria Jones, who raised $340 and Emmie Williams, who donated $100.