My name is Hollis, and I'm 18 years old. When I was 8, I joined a competitive soccer team and starting learning to juggle a soccer ball to develop my skills. It turned out that I was a pretty good juggler, and my mom suggested that I think about using my soccer skills as a way to give back. She told me about St. Jude, where kids with cancer are treated free of charge, and doctors and scientists are on the leading edge of finding cures. They share their research freely with other hospitals around the world and also have a global mission to treat and cure childhood cancer around the world, even in places where healthcare is much less accessible than it is in the United States. I did some research on the hospital, fell in love, and knew I wanted to help! The following summer, when I was 9, I started juggling as a way to fundraise in support of St. Jude's lifesaving mission.
Since then, through a combination of soccer juggling, appearances at special events, and public speaking, I have raised more than $655,000 with more than 3,500 different individuals donating to my cause. I am so grateful for the support of every single donor and anyone who has ever shared my story!
But, kids with cancer aren't cured with $655,000, so I'm still at it, juggling, teaching at clinics, public speaking, and doing as much outreach as I can. I'll keep juggling and speaking until kids no longer get cancer, and I hope you'll support Juggling for Jude as my move forward with my mission! Next up for me is a gap year with increasing and new roles at St. Jude, and then I'll be heading to Stanford University for my undergraduate studies. As far as my fundraising goes...Next stop: $1 Million for St. Jude!
Below is a link to a video of my juggling record of 7,157 consecutive juggles, which I got on July 30, 2021. It took 76 minutes, which is a pretty long time to be juggling! I’ll keep juggling and raising awareness for St. Jude, because I know that the more I juggle, the more money I can raise! I hope you'll join the fight against childhood cancer with a donation today!
https://youtu.be/ClaKLdWFmfs
Thank you for your support! Together we can help St. Jude change the world!
Love, Hollis
