Talk:American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities

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Consensus reached:

The "Lebanese Syrian" in the title of the organization's name comes from the fact that actor Danny Thomas, one of the founders of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was of Lebanese descent, and many of his friends that helped him fund and found the hospital were of Syrian and Lebanese descent as well.

The article states that ASLAC is the exclusive fund raiser for St Jude's. What it does NOT say is whether it raises funds exclusively for St Jude's and for no other organization. If it does, that should be explicitly stated. If not, the other organizations it raises money for should be listed, or at least their existence acknowledged. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:252:D58:1C70:2920:A5D0:A604:966E (talk) 17:59, 18 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I am the Director of Corporate Communications for ALSAC and am requesting updates to outdated information on this page. Thank you so much for helping ALSAC provide accurate information about our organization.

Outdated information: ALSAC is the third largest healthcare related charity in the United States.

• Updated: ALSAC is the largest healthcare related charity in the United States. ^[1]

Outdated information: As of 2014, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital requires more than $1.9 million in operating costs each day. Around $180,000 is covered by patient insurance, the remaining $1.74 million/day is funded by charitable contributions to ALSAC.

• Updated: As of 2017, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital requires more than $2.4 million in operating costs each day, and public contributions provide more than 75 percent of the funds necessary to operate the hospital. Only 14% of the money to operate the hospital comes from insurance recoveries and 9% comes from grants.^[2]

Outdated information: To cover these costs, ALSAC has been raising more than $500 million annually for the hospital through its more than 30,000 fund-raising activities.

• Updated: To cover these costs, ALSAC has been raising more than $1 billion annually for the hospital through its more than 30,000 fund-raising activities.^[3]

Outdated information: In November 2004, St. Jude launched its inaugural Thanks and Giving campaign which encourages consumers to help raise funds at participating retailers by adding a donation at checkout or by purchasing specialty items to benefit St. Jude. The campaign is supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, interactive marketing on Yahoo! and a movie trailer that runs on 20,000 screens nationwide. Corporations such as Target, Domino's Pizza, the Williams-Sonoma family of brands, CVS/pharmacy, Kay Jewelers, K-Mart, 7-Eleven, Inc., American Airlines, American Kiosk Management, AutoZone, BJ's Wholesale, Brooks Brothers, Busch Gardens, Casual Male XL, Catherines, Club Libby Lu, The Coffee Beanery, Diane von Fürstenberg, Dollar General, Easy Spirit, GNC, Gymboree, Home Shopping Network, J. P. Morgan Chase, Marshalls, The Melting Pot, Memphis Grizzlies (NBA), Nine West, Rochester, Sag Harbor, Saks Fifth Avenue, SeaWorld, Los Angeles Rams (NFL), West Elm, Westfield Shoppingtowns, Yahoo! give customers a host of opportunities to support St. Jude.

• Updated: In November 2004, St. Jude launched its inaugural Thanks and Giving campaign which encourages consumers to help raise funds at participating retailers by adding a donation at checkout or by purchasing specialty items to benefit St. Jude. The campaign is supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, featured content on the TODAY show, interactive marketing on AOL and a movie trailer that runs on 20,000 screens nationwide. Corporations such as Best Buy, Domino's Pizza, the Williams-Sonoma family of brands, Carnival, Kay Jewelers, K-Mart, 7-Eleven, Inc., American Airlines, American Kiosk Management, AutoZone, Toys “R” Us, Brooks Brothers, Delta Airlines, Casual Male XL, Claire’s, Expedia, Mazda. TUMI, Dollar General, Lancome, GNC, Ann Taylor, Home Shopping Network, HomeGoods, Marshalls, The Melting Pot, PayPal. New York & Company, Rochester, Chili’s Grill & Bar, Christopher & Banks, eBay, Charlotte Russe, West Elm, Westfield Shoppingtowns, and Hammermill give customers a host of opportunities to support St. Jude.^[4]

Outdated information: St. Jude has been named one of two International Philanthropic Projects of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, a women’s service sorority. As of July 2006, ESA has raised more than $100 million for St. Jude.

• Updated: St. Jude has been named one of two International Philanthropic Projects of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, a women’s service sorority. Since 1972, ESA has raised more than $200 million for St. Jude.^[5]

Outdated information: From 2001 to 2005, 83.7% of every dollar received by St. Jude has gone to the current or future needs of St. Jude. As of 2006, for the past two years 47% of program expenses have gone to patient care and 41% to research. By 2013, the percentage has dropped to 53.5% (23.2% patient care, 24.5% research, 5.9% education and training).

• Updated: From 2013 to 2016, 81 cents of every dollar received has supported the research and treatment at St. Jude. In FY2016, 72% of ALSAC and St. Jude expenses were allocated to program services (33.3% patient care, 30.8% research, 7.5% education and training).^[6]

Tara Milligan (talk) 22:21, 2 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

As stated above, I am the Director of Corporate Communications for ALSAC. I did not receive any responses to my request made four weeks ago for updates to this page. I have made all edits outlined above. Tara Milligan (talk) 15:36, 30 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Part of an edit requested by an editor with a conflict of interest has been implemented.

Hello fellow editors! I’m with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and have disclosed my conflict of interest. I am looking to make some changes to the page and would appreciate some help. Here are the changes:

1. Add article description Can we add this description of article to appear under ALSAC’s name: “Fundraising and advocacy organization”

2. Remove tag Could we please remove the article tag for sourcing? I have included appropriate sources below to be added that abide by and fulfill Wikipedia guidelines.

3. Remove/add wording in second sentence Can we remove the words “operate and maintain” and replace them with “run?” The sentence would appear as follows: “Its sole mission is to raise the funds and awareness necessary to run St. Jude.”

4. Citation for fundraising offices and event numbers “ALSAC also has over 30 local fundraising offices located in cities throughout the United States that hold over 30,000 fundraising events annually.”

Sources: https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-philanthropy-cancer-5dc260ec8e84a67fbc83c2c5cd47ce11 https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2018/12/06/alsac-usa-meet-the-nationwide-network-that.html

5. Add context to Purpose and activities section Can we add some context surrounding funding for St. Jude and where the money comes from. The addition would appear as follows: “As of 2021, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital costs nearly $1.4 billion per year to run, and donations provide an estimated 87% of those funds. Only 6% of the money to operate the hospital comes from insurance recoveries and 5% comes from grants.”

Source: https://www.stjude.org/content/dam/en_US/shared/www/about-st-jude/financial-information/alsac-stjude-annual-report-2020.pdf

6. Remove first paragraph of Purpose and activities Can we remove the first paragraph of this section as it will be replaced with the previous edit. The paragraph that would be removed is the following: “As of 2017, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital requires more than $2.4 million in operating costs each day, and public contributions provide more than 75 percent of the funds necessary to operate the hospital. Only 14% of the money to operate the hospital comes from insurance recoveries and 9% comes from grants.”

7. Add hyphen to “fund raising” Can we please add a hyphen within each use of the word “fund-raising”

8. Removal and addition of citation for how much ALSAC raises Remove source #3 and replace it “To cover these costs, ALSAC has been raising more than $1 billion annually for the hospital through its more than 30,000 fund-raising activities.”

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/st-jude-hits-donation-milestone-fight-childhood-cancer-78991705

9. Edit sentence on fundraising programs Can we edit the third sentence of the second paragraph of this section to appear as follows: “Other fund-raising programs include the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend, direct mailings, radiothons and television marketing.”

10. Add citation to sentence on fund-raising program “Other fund-raising programs include the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend, direct mailings, radiothons and television marketing.”

Sources: https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/12/04/st-jude-memphis-marathon-weekend-raises-over-12-million-help-children-battling-diseases/ https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/25/nonprofit-hospitals-tv-advertising/ https://musicrow.com/2021/12/carrie-underwood-lady-a-more-partner-with-st-jude-for-love-music-stop-cancer-campaign/

11. Add citation to sentence regarding merchandise Can we add a source to support the mention of the Hope Catalog? “The catalog contains everything from shirts to office items, and from patient art to "Give Thanks" wristbands.”

Source: https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/news/local/spectator/2007/12/26/selling-st-jude-s-bears/52696375007/

12. Remove and add content to fourth paragraph Purpose and activities section After edits the paragraph would appear as follows: “One of the hospital’s most successful fund-raising efforts has been the Dream Home Giveaway. The giveaway allows contest entrants to reserve tickets for $100 each to qualify to win homes valued up to $775,000. The Dream Home Giveaway is conducted in cities across the united states.

Source: https://fox8.com/news/chance-to-win-10k-shopping-spree-in-fox-8-st-jude-dream-home-giveaway/

13. Remove and add content to fifth paragraph of the Purpose and activities section After edits the paragraph will appear as follows:

“In November 2004, St. Jude launched its inaugural Thanks and Giving campaign which encourages consumers to help raise funds at participating retailers by adding a donation at checkout or by purchasing specialty items to benefit St. Jude. The campaign has been is supported by network television spots, advertisements in major publications, featured content on the TODAY show, and movie trailers.

Source: https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/thanks-and-giving-st-judes-brands-a-holiday/

14. Add citation about International Philanthropic Projects Can we add a source to support information regarding International Philanthropic Projects “St. Jude has been named one of two International Philanthropic Projects of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, a women's service sorority. Since 1972, ESA has raised more than $200 million for St. Jude.”

Source: https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1122&context=thejohnsonian1990s

15. Add content to Purpose and activities section Can we add two paragraphs following the mention of the International Philanthropic Projects? The addition would appear as follows:

In September 2021, Inspiration4 became the first crewed orbital mission with no professional astronauts on board. The mission raised more than $240 million for St. Jude, which was its sole charitable beneficiary, and the crew included a stuffed puppy toy modeled after service dogs at St. Jude. Sources: https://www.newsweek.com/spacex-stop-making-crew-dragon-capsule-records-broke-production-nasa-iss-1692502 https://www.techtimes.com/articles/265536/20210918/spacex-inspiration4-crew-puppy-stuffed-toy-based-on-real-life-hospital-dogs-flies-to-orbit.htm

That year, a large plush duck toy, nicknamed “Mr. Vanderquack,” was also a part of St. Jude fundraising. Groups of volunteers carried the duck through all fifty of the United States. In 2022, the convoy raised over $130,000 for St. Jude. Sources: https://www.duncanbanner.com/community/one-jeep-at-a-time-duck-set-to-travel-across-all-50-states/article_5214e4d0-0cf8-11ec-af46-4769ce382da4.html https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/Mr-Vanderquack-raises-money-for-kids-at-St-17012035.php https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2022/03/07/jeep-convoy-raising-money-st-jude-crosses-up/

16. Remove Fund usage section Can we remove the Fund usage section? It violates community guidelines due to redundancy and can be considered original research with a lack of sources.

AliceStacey (talk) 16:22, 7 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Kingapresa,

Just pinging you on this edit for visibility. Please let me know at first glance if there is anything you think needs to be changed and I will be happy to jump right on it.

Thank you!

AliceStacey (talk) 18:09, 9 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@AliceStacey,

I have made some of your requested edits (which I showed through a bolded "done" below). I have questions for the other ones that I'd like to have answered before completing the rest of the edits.

1. I'm not sure what is being asked for. Do you want the lead sentence to be changed from "fundraising and awareness organization" to "fundraising and advocacy organization"? Or adding "fundraising and advocacy organization" as an article category?
2. Done. As it was, the article largely relied on a single source (St. Jude's website.) But with the addition of your sources it no longer makes sense to have that tag.
3. The sentence sounds weird saying "...awareness necessary to run St. Jude." May I suggest "...awareness necessary for St. Jude's continued operation."? I didn't make any edit yet.
4. Already done. Both of the sources for #4 are already in the article.
5. 1.4 billion does not seem to be supported by the source you gave, though 1.19 billion is. Or if you want to include fundraising and administrative costs and mention that in the article, then 1.7 billion. If this new number interferes with your calculations for your other percentages, could you recalculate? Or do you want to find an alternative?
6. This can be done once we can confirm the numbers for 5.
7. Already done. It does not look like any hyphen is missing for any mention of "fund-raising"
8. Done. Link was broken but I believe I was able to find the same article.
9. Done. Reworded to combine with the previous sentence; if it's not okay with you let me know.
10. Done.
11. The source mentions the Hope Catalog but does not cite any of the Hope Catalog's merchandise. If you can find a new source that would be great. Otherwise I will put a citation needed tag.
12. Done
13. Done. I believe you typed "has been" but forgot to delete "is" in your new requested sentence. Fixed that and deleted the source from St Jude since you provided a secondary.
14. This source seems to just be a school newspaper. Is there another one you can find? The source also doesn't seem to support the information.
15. Done with slight rewording
16. Done Both sources are dead. The information is becoming outdated, it is a bit redundant, and reading it as a whole, its tone did not appear neutral. It sounded like it was trying to prove some point. Though I believe the fund usage of ALSAC is vital information, this explanation of how funds are allocated is not properly written. While it may look like original research, I'm confident that when the links were not dead, the information that is currently on the page could be verified by the source. However that isn't an excuse to keep it. The archives do not have either source saved before they became dead and I couldn't find it through my search engine. On all these grounds, I agree with you that the right action would be to remove the information. I hope that a section about fund usage can be properly rewritten in the future.

Thanks-- Kingapresa (talk) 08:20, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Kingapresa

Thank you so much for taking the time to complete this as well as provide feedback! Here is what I've found in response to your suggestions:

1. Can you please add "fundraising and advocacy organization" as an article category?

 Partly done Pretty sure adding an entire category makes sense right below the name. Changed the wording of the first sentence. Duke Gilmore (talk) 19:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

3. Changing the sentence from "operate and maintain" to "awareness necessary for St. Jude's continued operation." works perfectly.

 Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 19:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

5. Can we change the cost to run to $1.7 billion?

Sources:

Millions from Millions (philanthropyroundtable.org)

https://www.stjude.org/content/dam/en_US/shared/www/about-st-jude/financial-information/alsac-stjude-annual-report-2020.pdf

 Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 19:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

6. Please let me know if the above sources support the removal of the following paragraph:

"As of 2017, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital requires more than $2.4 million in operating costs each day, and public contribution provides more than 75 percent of the funds necessary to operate the hospital. Only 14% of the money to operate the hospital comes from insurance recoveries and 9% comes from grants."

 Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 19:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

11. Could we remove the following sentence?

"St. Jude also has a merchandise catalog called the Hope Catalog. The catalog contains everything from shirts to office items, and from patient art to "Give Thanks" wristbands."

 Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 19:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

14. Here is a new source that supports the information surrounding ESA and St. Jude.

Source:

Bags for Bucks raises nearly $6,000 for St. Jude – Akron News-Reporter (akronnewsreporter.com)

 Done Duke Gilmore (talk) 19:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you again for your time and effort on both this page and the St. Jude page, I really appreciate it!

AliceStacey (talk) 16:08, 6 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@AliceStacey I think all the requests were dealt with. Please submit a new request for further changes. Cheers. Duke Gilmore (talk) 19:07, 17 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you @Duke Gilmore for completing the remaining unfinished requests, and closing this and St. Jude's edit requests. It is much appreciated! Yes to every question posed and all good with the article changes made. Kingapresa (talk) 19:09, 27 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]