Chip And Joanna Gaines Donated $1.5 Million Dollars To St. Jude Hospital And Built Playhouse For Young Patients
Nov 05, 2019 by apost team
Chip and Joanna Gaines recently made an enormous donation worth $ 1.5 Million to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The couple also designed a playhouse for the St. Jude Target House, which aims to house the families of patients who stay at the hospital long term.
The funds were collected via a fund-raising social media campaign initiated by Chip, which used the hashtag #ChipInChallenge. According to People, the Fixer Upper star originally aimed to raise $230,000, but ended up collecting more than 6 times that amount!
Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines (2015), (Rob Kim/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images)
On June 19th, Chip & Joanna visited the hospital in Memphis to personally deliver the check, as well as to officially unveil the playhouse they designed. The couple then took the time to mingle with the children who were patients at the hospital.
“As we walked in today, a little boy told us that he’s ‘demo day-ing’ his cancer treatment and that’s pretty much the best thing I’ve ever heard,” Chip told People.
“In our world, demo day marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a newer, more exciting one.”
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To reach their goal, Chip and Joanna enlisted the help of other celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and her fiance Alex Rodriguez, Kacey Musgraves, and Drew Barrymore. Apart from the check, the couple also wanted to offer a space for families to stay for free when their loved ones were receiving treatment that the hospital.
“When we heard that the space outside of Target House could use a little love, we knew right away that we wanted to create a sweet playhouse for the kids to enjoy,” said Joanna. “There’s something so special about spending time together outside and while we’re hopeful that these families will not have to stay here for very long, we wanted to create a retreat for them to explore while they are here.”
The Playhouse is situated behind an archway adorned with flowers and includes a pretend kitchen with plastic food and a table.
“When we were designing this playhouse, we knew we wanted it to feel whimsical and fun — that was the inspiration behind details like the colorful flowers in the flower boxes and the sweet kitchen area,” she said. “Our hope is that this space brings a bit of joy to the families here,” she explained.
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