St. Jude's Ranch for Children

SJRC Provides Safety and Happiness for Thriving Teenager

We are proud of our kids and would like to share some of their amazing stories with you, our readers.  From time to time, we'll post a success story here on our blog.  We invite you to also visit our website for more children's success stories.

Today's story is about Francine.  A beautiful, young fourteen year old girl who came to the Ranch in 2008. She was not receiving structure, accountability or support from her mother or her mother’s boyfriend and was placed in situations that jeopardized her safety.  Francine would be sent from her home by her mother to act as a prostitute and lure drug dealers to a remote location. Once there, her mother and her mother’s boyfriend would rob these individuals and physically assault them.

Francine was left in a precarious situation while doing this solicitation for her mother – one that led to her entanglement with law enforcement authorities. While her mother and her mother’s boyfriend escaped charges, Francine did not. In lieu of placing her in detention, state officials worked out a placement situation with St. Jude’s Ranch for Children. This allowed Francine the opportunity to receive the structure and care she so desperately needed to become a thriving young woman.

When interviewed for placement at St. Jude’s Ranch, Francine cried and pleaded with the staff to allow her to come to the Ranch and “just live life as a kid.” She spoke about how she cried herself to sleep every night and was distraught because her mother refused to come visit her.

Today, Francine is just like the rest of the young women on campus. She goes to public school and looks forward to school dances and opportunities to meet other kids her age. She runs and plays across the campus with a larger than life spirit about her, often setting a wonderful example for other children living with her.

If you met Francine today you would never believe she once was forced into a life of crime and delinquency. Now is her time to heal and she has that chance living on the Ranch. She is thriving with the therapeutic structure the Ranch provides and receives compassionate care from the staff. And now she is just what she always wanted to be – a happy teenager!

Recycled Card Program Featured on WGN Radio - Steve and Johnnie Life After Dark

St. Jude's Ranch for Children's Recycled Card Program was featured this week on the Steve and Johnnie Life After Dark show on WGN Radio!  Listen to Jennifer Becker, community relations coordinator for Nevada talk with Steve and Johnnie about St. Jude's Ranch for Children and this fantastic program that has been around for years.  Recycle your cards, help the children and the programs and services of St. Jude's Ranch and go green - all at the same time!  A huge, heartfelt and sincere thank-you to both Steve and Johnnie and their listeners who helped spread the word about this program - THANK YOU so much for all your support - we really appreciate it!

Listen to Steve and Johnnie's podcast here http://feeds.feedburner.com/wgnradio/stevejohnnieuncut  (Scroll down on the page and look for "Steve and Johnnie Uncut 1-13-09 - 1" and "Steve and Johnnie Uncut 1-13-09 - 2" to listen to both parts).

Card fronts (with no writing on the back) can be mailed to:

St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Card Recycling Program
100 St. Jude's Street
Boulder City, NV 89005

Once received, your card fronts will be attached to new backs creating a new and 'green' card. Visit our website for more details on the program and St. Jude's Ranch for Children.

Great News from our Nevada Campus!

A fantastic and uplifting story to share with you today from Jennifer Becker, community relations coordinator for Nevada. As the school year kicks back into gear after the holidays, we have some great news to share on last semester's grades for one of our residents. (Click here to read more exciting stories about our children.)

I wanted to update you on the grades we got in for the kids here on the Boulder City Campus for last semester.  We have one young man named Andre* who is 16 years old and suffers from some learning disabilities.  He struggled when he first came to the Ranch, adjusting to the new atmosphere and school.  He and his siblings were removed from their parents care due to an allegedly severe case of neglect and reported abuse.  This past semester was the first full semester Andre spent in his new school since moving to the Ranch and he received all A’s and B’s, despite his learning disability!!  Andre receives special attention and care by the trained staff here on the Ranch and is thriving in school and at home.  He is an example of so many ways in which St. Jude’s Ranch changes the lives of children everyday.  (Please note names are changed to protect the identities of our children)

St. Jude’s Ranch-Texas Kids are Blessed this Christmas

Christmas at the Ranch in Texas this year was another memorable experience for our kids. Due to the generosity of so many wonderful donors, and all of the contributions we received from South Texans through our Hope for the Holidays campaign with 94.1 KTFM, our children were given the kind of Christmas they truly deserve.

The kids had a blast opening presents at their annual Christmas pizza party with Santa, and again on Christmas Day with the board members and their families. At each house on the Ranch the kids were allowed to open an early present on Christmas Eve - each house received an X-Box!!! Everyone received clothes, shoes, jackets, pajamas, slippers, and many gift cards to shop with throughout the year. The girls were very excited to receive jewelry and make-up galore! And the boys were racing their new remote control cars and skateboarding around the campus! It was a beautiful sight to see our kids so genuinely happy.
We are sincerely grateful for the gifts, donations and support from everyone who helped make this Christmas special for our kids. Be sure to view our photo album and again, a heartfelt thank you to all who made the holiday spectacular for our kids!

St. Jude’s Ranch Transitional Living Program Resident a Radio Celebrity for a Day

In mid-December St. Jude’s Ranch for Children-Texas Transitional Living Program resident Matt was invited to be a guest on San Antonio’s New 94.1 KTFM Woody in the Morning Show as part of the Hope for the Holidays 2008 campaign. Matt came to the St. Jude’s Ranch Bulverde campus over a year ago, and is a shining star in the TLP. After enduring years of neglect and unsafe living environments, Matt has been able to restart his life with St. Jude’s Ranch, and is now a thriving full-time college student at San Antonio College and even works at a part-time job. It is because of his amazing ambition and accomplishments that DJ Woody asked him to come on the show and talk about his experiences at St. Jude’s Ranch and his goals for the future. Here’s what Matt had to say about being a part of one of the most popular radio morning shows in South Texas.

“When I first walked into KTFM’s studio for my interview I was surprised because I thought there would be a lot more people involved in the process of doing a radio morning show. Yet there was only one guy in the production booth handling all of the technical parts of the show - which is actually pretty cool. And in the actual studio it was just the DJ’s Woody and Robynne… and me! The on-air interview was truly awesome. I was super-nervous at first, but then it was cool.  I think the best part of the interview was actually when we were talking during the commercial breaks, because Woody and Robynne are just as crazy off the air as they are on - which is something the average listener would never know.  While on the air I was able to talk to Woody about all of the wonderful things St. Jude’s Ranch has done for me and how they helped me put my life on the right track. I also got to talk about how important it is for people to know who we are and how much we need the community’s help in order to keep helping kids like me.  After the interview was over Robynne gave me a tour of the entire radio station which was very cool.  I had a great time - really a once in a lifetime experience.  If I had the chance, I would definitely do it all over again!” Sincerely, Matt

Hope for the Holidays 2008 Helps Give Our Kids a Very Merry Christmas!

The staff and children of St. Jude’s Ranch for Children - Texas hope you all enjoyed a wonderful and blessed holiday season! The results of our first annual Hope for the Holidays campaign clearly helped us have a wonderful holiday as well!  Due to the generosity of so many people throughout South Texas and beyond, our kids at the Bulverde and New Braunfels campuses were able to experience the true meaning of Christmas.

Thanks to San Antonio’s New 94.1 KTFM and the Woody in the Morning show, hosted by Woody and Robynne, St. Jude’s Ranch for Children - Texas received hundreds of toys and gifts for our homes, as well as more than $4,000 in cash donations made in person and through our web site at www.stjudesranch.org.

As part of Hope for the Holidays, KTFM’s Woody and Robynne hosted a live broadcast at two San Antonio H-E-B plus! locations on December 19, where they gave away 200 tickets to the Spurs vs. the Sacramento Kings game. The event brought out hundreds of local residents, raising more than $1300 in cash and filling eight shopping carts with gifts! In addition, the County Line restaurant and KTFM hosted three fundraisers for us, bringing in $500 as well as lots of toys and gifts for our homes.

Overall, Hope for the Holidays was a great success, especially for our precious kids. Not only did the help of so many people make this Christmas memorable for the children of St. Jude’s Ranch, but the continuous on-air promotion of the event by KTFM helped raise much-needed awareness of our organization throughout South Texas. St. Jude’s Ranch sincerely thanks everyone who contributed to Hope for the Holidays, and is grateful to the amazing team at KTFM for making this happen!

2008 Jingle Bell 5K Run Photos Uploaded

We just posted some photos in a photo album here on our blog from the 5K Jingle Bell Run held in December for our Texas campuses.  It was our most successful year ever with over 900 runners! In addition, there are hundreds more photos available here at Hill Country Rambling's website - be sure to note there are three pages of photos!  Thanks to everyone who came out and for all the awesome photos!

Recent Jingle Bell Run Video Now Online

Happy New Year Everyone!  A short video about the recent Jingle Bell Run benefiting our campuses in Texas is now available here.  Be sure to check it out and a HUGE thank you to all our sponsors and participants for making this the best run ever with over 900 runners!