True St. Jude Heroes

Working at St. Jude, I work with a lot of heroes every day. And I’m surrounded by patients and families who inspire me by their strength and resolve throughout their treatment. But recently we had a visit from a group of people who quite simply, blew me away with their positive attitude and energy. The St. Jude Performance Team is a high-energy dance troupe out of Boston who visited St. Jude and Target House recently. This is a group of men, women, and children who practice “Fitness for a Cure”. This team of fitness professionals and dance performers competes year round in dance and fitness competitions, and all their winnings are donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The philosophy of this group is “those strong in mind and body should give back to the sick and less fortunate.”

This team of individuals was incredible to watch. They gave several performances for (and with) St. Jude patients. I came to see them and was mesmerized by the loud and fun music they played, by the team’s energy and dance moves, and especially by their compassion for their audience. During their performance, they invited patients to come up and dance with them if they were able. Then I watched as the performers one by one went out into the audience and sat or stood with patients who couldn’t come up to the front. One dancer boogied with a patient and her I.V. pole. One performer simply sat next to a child in a wheelchair and clapped along with the child to the music. What was amazing is how, young or old, each of these performers intuitively reached out to a child and included them in the performance. This performance was all about the kids of St. Jude.

After their performance, I talked to the team’s founder and leader, a woman named Sherri Sarrouf, who lives in Boston and whose husband Camille serves on the ALSAC Board of Directors. She said that since she started the team in 1999, they have raised $1.7 million for the kids of St. Jude! But what they brought to campus during their visit was more than that- they brought energy and life. She and her team are true St. Jude Heroes!