A pancake breakfast may not sound like much. But if you repeat it hundreds of times, over 27 years, with thousands of hands helping at the same time, it becomes $125 million.
That is what Tri Delta, a university sorority with chapters in the United States and Canada, did. Nearly 400 members gathered at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, to announce their $25 million donation. When they said it out loud, the room filled with balloons and cheers that were not of surprise, but of accumulated pride.
It all began in 1999, without big promises, just with the idea that no gesture is too small. Thanks to that money, no family at St. Jude ever receives a bill for treatment, travel, food, or lodging. They only have to focus on their child getting better. And now Tri Delta has set a new goal: another $100 million by the year 2038.