2024 St. Jude Dream Home groundbreaking set for Thursday

LYNCHBURG, Va (WSET) — We are so excited to announce that the St. Jude Dream Home campaign is back for another year!

ABC 13 partners with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and numerous other organizations to build a home in our area and raffle it off to raise money for children fighting cancer.

This is our sixth year with the project. There are big plans in the works for this year's home, starting with a location change!

Over the past several years, the home has been located at Trent's Landing in Campbell County. But this year, the home is being built on Elmwood Avenue in Lynchburg in the Blackwater Run neighborhood.

Custom Structures is back as our builder this year. We are also excited to once again be partnering with Ford and Bank of the James.

Make sure to watch ABC 13 News at 5 on Thursday for the official groundbreaking!

The reason we partner with St. Jude is to help beat childhood cancer. At St. Jude, no family ever receives a bill for treatment, travel, housing, or food so they can focus on getting their child well.

When St. Jude opened in 1962, childhood cancer was considered incurable. Since then, St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80%.

St. Jude was also the first children's hospital to make a major investment in pediatric cancer genome sequencing. The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital-Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has resulted in groundbreaking discoveries in several childhood cancers. Before this project, not even one pediatric cancer genome had been sequenced.

One other huge aspect of St. Jude is its research. St. Jude publishes more research and clinical trials than any other pediatric cancer research institution in the U.S. St. Jude also provides thousands of free consultations for doctors treating children worldwide, including children in our community.

Their missing is "Finding Cures. Saving Children."

Last year's winner has since moved into her home. You may remember Kellen Sims.

Sims is a first-time homeowner; she's been trying to make that dream a reality for years.

"The way the market changes and things fall through sometimes it felt like it wasn't going to be a reality for me," Sims said. "Maybe it's God's work. Maybe He was telling me to be patient."

Last year's campaign raised $1,200,000 for the children at St. Jude.

Stay tuned for more information on how to reserve your ticket this Spring.

Read more stories on our work with St. Jude here.