Introduction
Randy Owen (JSU) Reaches $500 Million Milestone for “Country Cares for St. Jude Kids”
For more than 25 years since its inception, Jacksonville State University (JSU) alumnus and Board of Trustees member Randy Owen has led the fundraising efforts of the Country Cares for St. Jude Kids program, recently achieving an extraordinary milestone of more than $500 million raised for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (jsu.edu).
The journey began in 1989 when Owen met Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude. Inspired by Thomas’s mission, Owen rallied the country music community to join forces through the Country Cares program. Since then, the initiative has flourished through televised and radio radiothons, generating steady contributions to help children battling life-threatening illnesses (jsu.edu, stjude.org).
This achievement is more than a financial figure—it is a testament to the collective strength of the country music community, where artists, radio stations, and fans unite to support St. Jude’s mission of providing free care for pediatric patients and their families. It serves as a vivid reminder of the belief that “no child should have to worry about a medical bill while fighting for their life”—a core value upheld by St. Jude (jsu.edu, stjude.org).
Since its opening in 1962, St. Jude has helped raise the childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to over 80%, thanks to its focus on pioneering research and sharing medical breakthroughs freely with the world (jsu.edu, stjude.org).
Country Cares is not just a fundraising campaign—it is a symbol of hope, bridging artists and audiences in a shared mission of compassion. With the $500 million milestone reached in 2014, Randy Owen has laid a solid foundation for decades of continued support for children with critical illnesses at St. Jude (jsu.edu, stjude.org).
Jacksonville State University takes great pride in Owen—not only as a successful country music artist but as a visionary who sparked and sustained a movement of kindness through music, touching countless young lives and bringing comfort to millions of families.