The Country Music Industry Gathers in Honor of the 20th Annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids

Randy Owen with kids from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

More than 800 members of the country music industry, from executives to recording artists and radio representatives, gathered in Memphis Jan. 15-18 to celebrate 20 years of support for the children of St. Jude.

The annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids seminar drew participants from around the country to join Country Music Hall-of-Famer Randy Owen in applauding past accomplishments and looking to future goals. Owen led efforts to create Country Cares after meeting St. Jude founder Danny Thomas in 1988. Since its inception in 1989, Country Cares has raised more than $345 million for St. Jude.

"I tell you, it's amazing. It really is," said Owen. "I guess I naively thought that after 10 or 12 years, when we got rolling, that we would have achieved Danny's dream and we'd close the doors here. But I'm very optimistic about the future and very, very proud of what we've done together for St. Jude. And the emphasis is on we, not me. I know -- I absolutely know -- that we are making a difference."

Upon arriving at St. Jude Thursday, Owen met patients Ethan, Taylor, Karen and David, and spent time with them coloring pictures and discussing their favorite ice cream flavors and what gifts everyone received during the holidays. He autographed picture mats for each child, which were used to frame their favorite drawings of the day.

"You know, it's all about helping the kids," said Owen.

For country singer/songwriter Richie McDonald, making his fourth visit to St. Jude, seeing the patients makes him thankful the hospital exists and that his own children are healthy.

"You think, 'that could be my child,'" he said. "And then you think, 'Isn't it incredible that there's a place like St. Jude?' For anyone out there, it's hope."

That hope was shared with Owen's and McDonald's fellow country artists on Friday, when participants received guided tours of the hospital, Chili's Care Center and Memphis Grizzlies House and met patients and hospital staff.

Gathering on Saturday morning, the country music radio representatives attended roundtable discussions and breakout sessions about leading a successful Country Cares radiothon. The afternoon was devoted to the reason why their radiothons are crucial to the mission of St. Jude: the patients.

At the patients then and now session, former St. Jude patients were paired with current patients who shared the same diagnosis. They discussed the advances in their treatment, thanks in no small part to research funded by campaigns like Country Cares. For example, former patient Scott Hinshelwood and current patient Vivian were diagnosed with osteosarcoma and both received the same drug. But Hinshelwood noted that the drug was in the testing stages when he was treated; now it's part of St. Jude's arsenal against the disease.

"More and more of us are walking out the doors of St. Jude alive, thanks to what Country Cares has done," said Hinshelwood.

In one patient's case, that gratitude extends back to 1962. That was the year St. Jude opened and the year Dwight Tosh was admitted as the 17th patient to St. Jude. Tosh was the special guest speaker for the afternoon sessions.

"Little did I know that at St. Jude, when you were assigned a number that you are more than a number. Now that number bonds you to the medical staff. It connects you to ALSAC (the fundraising organization for St. Jude). It connects you to every patient. It connects me to Danny Thomas and the Thomas family. And it connects all the patients to you," said Tosh. "This is what I call the extended family of St. Jude."

And, because celebrating family is something country does best, the annual Songwriters Dinner sang the right notes to end the Country Cares 20th anniversary seminar. Owen and David L. McKee, chief operating officer and interim CEO of ALSAC, were honored with special awards, and participants were treated to performances by Owen and McDonald and the evening's surprise guest, country music star and St. Jude supporter Keith Urban.