“Those great people that gave money to St. Jude, they literally helped save my life, says” Eli Zachary. It’s clear from the way he carries himself that he is truly grateful to the Home Furniture family and all those who have donated.
Home Furniture featured Eli and his sister, Emily, as part of their yearly St. Jude Campaign. Every April and May, Home Furniture rallies around the cause of the children’s hospital. In 2017 they donated over $16,000 and in 2018 surpassed that number with over $21,000 in donations.
“Sometimes I just lay down and think people die from cancer, and my brother is just so, so lucky because of St. Jude,” says Emily.
Eli and Emily are the grandchildren of an employee, Alice Zachary. She works at the Airline location in Baton Rouge. Jill Mills, who manages Community Outreach for Home Furniture, organized the campaign to bring more awareness to the cause and show their support.
In fact, Jill says the Give Thanks, Give Hope campaign for St. Jude is one of her favorite events. Jill says the employees really enjoy the cause and enthusiastically support St. Jude.
“We had a little patient come in and talk in the managers’ meeting, and she stole the show. She was amazing,” says Jill.
Jill says seeing that patient, and Alice’s grandson, was a reminder of why she works so hard for Home Furniture’s Community Outreach Projects. That message is certainly not lost on the kids that campaign supports.
“You should give to St. Jude because giving to St. Jude isn’t just saving one person’s life, even though that’s phenomenal. It’s saving hundreds,” says Emily.
This campaign isn’t the only connection that Home Furniture has to St. Jude. On December 1,2018, Drake Hulin, a Distribution Center Receiving Manager, will be running in the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis. It’s a huge undertaking, but Drake says he has found ample support among his Home Furniture family.
