08/Oct/2009
Volunteers Get More From St. Jude
Dream Home Than They Can GiveBy Sean Griffin
Jairo
Alvarez of Alvarez Construction Company has been building one special house each
year for more than a decade.
He, along
with other volunteers, help make the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway a success
every year.
The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway has been in Baton Rouge for more than a decade. This year's home, worth $340,000, is a four bedroom, three bathroom house which will be given away on Nov. 1, 2009.
Alvarez
has been named the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Volunteer of the Year
for 2009, but he doesn’t do it for the recognition. He does it for the kids.
“St. Jude
is helping children and doing research to treat diseases,” Alvarez said. “They
treat children from all over the world.”
Alvarez
Construction built this year’s St. Jude Dream Home which will be given away
during a live show on WAFB-TV Channel 9 on Sunday, November 1, 2009. The show
will air from noon until 2 p.m.
Four Bedrooms, Three Baths
This year’s
four-bedroom and three-bathroom home valued at approximately $340,000 will be
won by someone who purchased a $100 ticket as their entry into the drawing.
In
addition to the home, entrants can also win several other prizes including gift
certificates, gym memberships and a computer.
Alvarez
highlights the work of his fellow contributors for the St. Jude Dream Home.
More than 60 subcontractors and suppliers gave their services and supplies to
the project this year. “The most important part is the solidarity of the
community,” he said. “This is not just an Alvarez Construction effort.”
Volunteers and Donors
Tracey
McKee, associate director of the Baton Rouge St. Jude satellite office, began
working for the St. Jude Dream Home in May 2008.
While she was overwhelmed by the task at
hand, volunteers and donors such as Alvarez make the yearly event run smoothly.
“I met
Jairo Alvarez on my second week on the job,” McKee said. “It is a rare jewel to
meet someone like him and his family.”
But McKee
recognized that all the volunteers that work each year for the St. Jude Dream
Home event are the reason for its success. One group in particular that makes
the event run smoothly each year is Epsilon Sigma Alpha.
The service organization chose the St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital as the object of its philanthropic efforts back in
1972 and the members have been working to support events and fundraising for
St. Jude ever since.
Susan
Waldrup, president of the ESA Alpha Omega Chapter, has been leading her fellow
members as they help with the St. Jude Dream Home and other St. Jude events.
She said ESA hosts the open houses for the Dream Home and the members do
everything from promoting to sweeping floors.
Made up of
13 members, Waldrup said she remembers thirty years ago volunteering for St.
Jude, manning the phone for radio-thons. “Since we began, the Louisiana ESA has
raised over $18 million,” Waldrup said. “This year alone we raised over $1.7
million.”
For the children
Raising
money is the group’s primary goal Waldrup said ESA works to aid St. Jude
because of the need for research in the area of children’s health.
“We don’t
do it for the recognition.
We do it
because Louisiana sends such an enormous number
of children to hospitals,” Waldrup said. “It’s for the children.”
Alvarez
echoes that sentiment. He remembers walking through the doors of St. Jude and
receiving praise from everyone. “It really breaks your heart when you go to the
hospital and meet all the children and parents and they hug you, kiss you, and
thank you for all that you do.”
That
desire to help children is the reason why many more people than just Alvarez
and Waldrup want to help St. Jude.
“Everyone has their own personal story and connection with the hospital,” Waldrup said. “They’re not buying a ticket to win a home. They’re doing it because they want to help.”
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