St. Jude Field of Dreams raises $142K for hospital
The second St. Jude Field of Dreams event surpassed last year’s fundraising total by more than $40,000.
This year, the May 7 event at the Grand Bohemian Mountain Brook raised $142,120 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, said event co-chair Molly Fielding.
Guests of St. Jude Field of Dreams enjoyed cuisine, cocktails and entertainment by Razz Ma Tazz, all while raising money for the Tennessee-based children’s hospital through silent and live auctions.
Mountain Brook resident Slade Anderson, along with two other local St. Jude patients, Sophia Schefano of Vestavia Hills and Cole Tanner, were honored at the fundraising event in the ballroom of the Grand Bohemian. Together, friends and members of the three families did their part to help raise money for the research hospital that saved their loved ones’ lives.
This year, Anderson helped auction off a Mo’s Bows bow tie to winning bidder Jen Reese for $1,500. The bow ties, designed by 14-year-old Moziah “Mo” Bridges, are handmade. After nearly three years of battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia — a form of blood cancer — Anderson completed his last chemotherapy treatment June 9, 2015, according to his mother, Emily. On May 15, Anderson celebrated his ninth birthday.
Sophia Schefano and her father, Michael, attended the St. Jude Field of Dreams event to celebrate her 11th birthday and the hospital that helped her live to enjoy it.
The celebration came nearly 10 years after Sophia’s father heard the news no parent wants to hear: At just 2 months old, doctors diagnosed Sophia with retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer.
Today, thanks to the treatment she received at St. Jude, Sophia remains cancer-free.
The fundraising event began as an idea that Michael Schefano, the owner of Hollywood Imports in Vestavia Hills, had just more than two years ago on one of the regular trips Sophia Schefano makes to St. Jude for checkups. His girlfriend, Molly Fielding, who has been part of Sophia’s life since she was 3, reached out to St. Jude for ideas on how they could give back.
Fielding said this year, the plan was to make the event even bigger.
Former University of Alabama, NFL and NFL Europe star Siran Stacy headlined the event. Following a successful football career, Stacy transitioned into a career in mortgage banking. Along with his corporate banking jobs, Stacy worked with Bill Glass Prison Ministry, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and spoke to many small churches.
In November 2007, according to his online biography, Stacy’s life changed forever. He, his wife, Ellen, his son, Bronson, and his daughters Lequisa, Sydney, Shelly and Ellie Ann-Marie were traveling in the family’s van, when their van was struck by a drunk driver. Only Siran and Shelly, age 4 at the time, survived.
Following the tragedy, Stacy started his ministry and now speaks to a variety of groups including churches, high schools, corporate groups, military branches and prisons.
The inaugural St. Jude Field of Dreams event helped raise $101,094 to benefit the Memphis children’s research hospital through a silent auction and donations. More than 300 people attended the event at Regions Field.
This year’s event was sponsored by Merrill Lynch and featured auction items including event tickets, travel packages, gift certificates and autographed memorabilia.
According to a news release about the event, St. Jude patients and families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food. Field of Dreams aims to help ensure this practice continues.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. Treatments discovered at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since it opened more than 50 years ago.