Supporting the Mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Hi, everyone –

I’d like to begin this blog post with an open-hearted admission. When I first started this project, I didn’t have any philanthropic intentions in mind. Sure, I’d love to be able to say that supporting a great cause was one of my driving influences for writing a children’s book, but that would be disingenuous of me.

The truth is that when I set out to write The Adventures of Captain Pumpkin Head, it was all about creating something fun for kids. That was pretty much the long and the short of it. I wanted to write a book that would make children smile, stimulate their imagination, and spark their sense of adventure. If you’re interested, you can read about the inspiration behind the story here.

With all that said, and as we’ve been working hard to promote the book, my wife, Esme, and I decided that it was important for the Captain Pumpkin Head franchise to support a cause for children. As the parents of four kids of our own, we have never for a single day taken for granted their good health and well being. It is with this in mind that we have chosen to support the work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in their quest to advance a cure for childhood cancer.

Every year in the U.S., nearly 16,000 children are diagnosed with cancer – that’s approximately 1 in 285 kids. Worldwide, over 300,000 children annually will be afflicted with this dreadful disease. Although survival rates for many types of childhood cancer have improved, cancer remains the most common cause of death by disease for children in America.

It’s time for that to change!

One of the best ways that we can all work to put an end to childhood cancer is to help fund cutting-edge research and treatments. At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, incredible advancements are being made. In fact, since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago, treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80%!

Still, MORE needs to be done. The goal of St. Jude’s – and OUR GOAL – is a 100% survival rate!

Join us in the fight! Ten percent of all profits from the sale of the Adventures of Captain Pumpkin Head go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. You can also go here to donate directly to St. Jude.