Elvis Presley was, in private and in public, one of the most generous people in contributing to charitable organizations and charity events, which has never existed.
Of the many organizations that Elvis supported, one of his favorite charitable organizations was the Hospital para niños St. Jude en Memphis.
El St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is an infant cancer treatment and research center that was founded by humorist and actor Danny Thomas in 1962.
The hospital was founded with the premise that “any child must die in the dawn of life”.
When Danny began to make his idea of the hospital a reality, he literally traveled around the country asking people for donations, and many famous people gave him help.
Elvis, como era costumbre en él, attended this petition of support to the children of St. Jude y a su fundador Danny Thomas since the hospital was only a dream, y lo continued haciendo a lo largo de su vida.
Elvis made his first appearance in “La Lluvia de estrellas” by Danny Thomas, a beneficio de la construcción del Hospital St. Jude, in Russwood Park in Memphis, on June 28, 1957. Elvis did not sing that day, although he participated in the charity event. We can see Elvis in photos together with stars of the stature of comedian Lou Costello, actresses Jane Russell and Susan Hayward and country singer Ferlin Husky.
The names of many of those first donors, among whom Frank Sinatra was also found, are listed on a wall inside the main section of the hospital. Por supuesto el nombre de Elvis Presley has a special mention on that wall, just like it has in so many hospitals and charitable organizations.
We can also see in the second block of photos Elvis and Danny Thomas, on February 14, 1964, a sunny day of San Valentín, in Long Beach, California, when Elvis donated the yacht “Potomac”, whose previous owner was president Franklin Roosevelt, al Hospital St. Jude.
Elvis bought the presidential yacht for 55,000 dollars and gave it to Danny Thomas to sell it and the proceeds were destined for the “St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital” in Memphis. Thomas sold it that same year for $75,000.
