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A Letter from the Founder/President of Sky High For St. Jude
I have been involved with St. Jude Hospital for several years and it began the day I was crowned Ms. Acadiana in 1998. The pagent director, Billy Menard, allowed her queens to raise money for St. Jude Hospital and in turn visit Memphis to personally deliver the proceeds. The trip was a life changing experience, and I truly felt that God had shown me my vocation in life; helping others in need. I witnessed children of all ages suffer from the effects of disease treatment and I will never forget the first child that I encountered. Dalton was 8 years old, tall, cute and very shy. He lost his hair, and you knew that bothered him. Our group cooked a Gumbo for the families and when it was time to eat, Dalton replied "I'm not hungry". His mother informed me that he had not eaten a solid meal in 3 days! I sat beside him and asked him if he would eat dinner with me? With a little encouragement, he ate half of his gumbo. His mother was so excited she started crying and from that day forward I knew that I would always be with the children of St. Jude. God showed me my vocation in life that very day.
Children undergoing intense treatment do not want to eat, or be active at times. It is very important that they receive the vitamins and minerals they need to keep them strong through treatment. Once Dalton warmed up to me, we played games outside, and he was even crowned the King of Mardi Gras that evening. His family was extremely grateful for everything we did as a group to help their children forget about being sick for an afternoon.
January 2007 I was asked to be an Ambassador for St. Jude and I immediatley accepted the position. I was responsible for a fundraiser; the goal being $10,000. I remember thinking to myself, "What will I do?" After several nights of brainstorming I decided to put together a sporting clay shoot. I grew up shooting with my father and was the 2005-2006 Womens Champion in the Guyden Duck Festival shoot. I thought with my shooting experience and the help of the south Louisiana community, it would work! My fundraiser exceeded the amount in which Billy Menard's group, Beanies for St. Jude, had ever raised. Due to the success, after meetings, research, help from others, and support from God, we raised $50,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!
I soon formed Sky High for St. Jude, Inc. on my birthday, October 5th of 2007.
Christl Mahfouz, Michelle Hebert, Jill Prudhomme, Hollie Ctron, Jan Hebert, Tanya Stelly, and Patti, came together to put forth an amazing effort which made this shoot a success! David Heximer, the manager of Wildreness Gun Club, was by our side in every step, and we could not have done this without him as well as our gracious sponsors and volunteers! The community pulled together like a puzzle that fits perfectly.
Our future goal is to only grow together as a committee, and ultimatley assist in finding cures for these children. We want to bring smiles to the faces of St. Jude Hospital. We want the community to help take away pain, bring happiness, joy to the patients, and their families.
The morning of our first shoot, I was holding a microphone, standing in front of hundreds of participants, volunteers, survivors, and God; I looked out and thought, "We did it, we really did it". At the end of a long, hot, stressful, fun, and exciting day, we came together and realized that we had raised $50,000 for St. Jude. Once that sunk in, we took a deep breath and smiled. It was the best feeling.
Approaching our 5th year, we have grown at a faster pase than I could have ever imagined. Our Board, volunteers, sponsors, and the local gulf coast children we support have all worked together to achive our ultimate goal. We now host two major shoots in both TX and LA along with benefiting from the Anadarko Golf Tourney, Kruse Classic, Fin Feather & Fur, and the Black Elk Golf Tourney. We are truly blessed to have such an amazing support group and we strive to grow throughout the future. Our goals increase every year and together we can reach our ultimate goal; setting these children free of disease forever.
"Shooting for Comfort, Aiming for a Cure"
Sincerely,
Brittany Hebert
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