The Detroit Lions Podcast St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Charity Fundraiser Is Off To A Great Start.

It all started with the NFL Combine. Chris was traveling and the podcast was taking a week off. Rich Eisen was talking about his #RunRichRun campaign in which he ran the 40 yard dash in the same way that the college prospects did. The players were hoping to raise their draft stock with the onlooking NFL Coaches and General Managers, Eisen was hoping to raise money for sick children and their families.

Helping St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Eisen says he has turned what used to be a bit of comedic relief from a relatively wonky event into “the most important thing I do all year”. Eisen has morphed this event into a large fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and done so in a way that works well for everyone involved. In between discussing prospects and their potential draft positions, Eisen will talk about St. Jude and the great work they do both in research and in treating children with grievous illness. Beyond that, they also take care of the most important support network for these children, their families. They ensure that the cost of treatment, travel, and all of the related expenses are covered. These families who have received the very worst news any parent could ever hear are given the ultimate gift – the ability to care for their child without regard to the costs associated with doing so. Obviously, the money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere includes the generous donations that Eisen has been able to solicit through his #RunRichRun campaign.

Eisen blends his requests for donations into the NFL Combine broadcast seamlessly. They take absolutely nothing away from the broadcast, and in many instances provide an important and entertaining message between Combine events. It was during one of these interludes that the Detroit Lions Podcast decided that it was time to do our part.

Mooch Sends The Pebble Downhill

It all started when former Detroit Lions Coach Steve Mariucci laid down a check and a challenge. During a discussion with Eisen, Mariucci pulled out a check for $5,000 and made it known that he was challenging the coaches and assistant coaches of the NFL to do their best to donate. It was at that point that Chris decided that it was time to write a check and do his part. Then, when the broadcast returned from a commercial break, Eisen made an announcement that caused Chris to spring into action. Eisen told the story of Detroit Lions Coach Matt Patricia stopping by the booth and making a “generous” donation. He also said that Coach Patricia wasn’t interested in “taking credit” for his donation, just that he wanted to do what he could and get back to work. This struck Chris as the epitome of the “Detroit” ethic. He decided that it was time to use the extended voice of the podcast to mobilize fans to help support St. Jude and to use the Detroit Lions Podcast platform to do more than write a check. He did, and that’s how we ended up here.

Transparency Report

Its unfortunate that in today’s world we need to be hyper-vigilant against scammers and ne’er-do-wells who are trying to line their pockets at the expense of others. As a creator of content, I know how frustrating it is to see someone take your work and re-market it for their own ends. Appreciating that people *should* be suspicious, one of the key tenets we have put in place is a public accounting of the funds we’ve raised for St. Jude. It is done not only to prove our intent, but also to ensure that we haven’t missed anything or anyone along the way. It’s also a way to celebrate how much we have done.

The accounting process will consist of the following:

1. A full accounting of money raised through April 2nd 2019
2. A list of PayPal donations as well as those who donated (first name last initial) and how much
3. A total number of shirt sales including who purchased shirts and how many shirts they purchased
4. The total of Patreon donations – totals are publicly available via Patreon, so we won’t do a breakdown on these
5. Matching funds from Chris
6. Mail-in donations made directly to St. Jude
7. A copy of the receipt of March’s donation to St. Jude

If you donated or took part in some way and aren’t listed in this accounting, please email us via the site’s contact form so we can track this down. Remember, if you donated after April 2nd, you won’t show up until the next transparency report. The first item in the report is the accounting page. In this image you can see all of the donations and their sources. We raised $2,548.69 direct through the site, and another $1,000 mailed directly to St. Jude as a result of our effort for a total of $3,548.69 raised in the first three weeks of the program. Excellent job! Thank you to all who participated.

Once we tallied the totals that were raised, the next step was to get that money into St. Jude’s hands. Below is the receipt for that donation.

We’ve hit the half way point, and the auction is now underway. Please, amplify the message. Let’s get as many people as we can to join us in helping the kids and their families who are relying on St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. On Twitter use the hashtag: #FansHelpSickKids and let’s spread the word!  Again, thank you to all who have taken part and helped out so far.