Target celebrates 20-year St. Jude's partnership with Bullseye Bash

MINNEAPOLIS — Target is celebrating 20 years of partnership efforts with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which helps save the lives of children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases. 

The sponsorship celebration culminated last week with Target’s holiday Bullseye Bash, which was attended by Target’s chairman and CEO, Brian Cornell, and other Target leaders. Hundreds of patients and their families had a chance to enjoy a variety of holiday-themed activities, including Nutcracker-inspired performances featuring a cast of characters. They also had an opportunity to meet Target’s dog mascot, Bullseye. Click here for more on Target’s Bullseye Bash.

Target’s relationship with St. Jude began in 1996 with a commitment to design and build Target House, the hospital’s long-term housing facility that gives patients and families a home-away-from-home while undergoing treatment. Since opening in 1999, Target House has hosted more than 4,500 families from 45 states and 47 countries and territories. While accommodating up to 98 families at a time, each apartment is fully furnished with products donated by Target and vendor partners. Staying true to the mission of St. Jude, none of these families ever receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Beyond Target House, Target has donated millions of dollars throughout the years to help fuel research at St. Jude. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since it opened more than 50 years ago.

“We’re proud of Target’s longtime partnership with St. Jude and are honored to have helped the incredible patients and families at St. Jude over the past 20 years,” said Laysha Ward, chief corporate social responsibility officer, Target. “I visit Target House every year – the families that I’ve met and the hope and resilience I see in these children is awe-inspiring. On behalf of Target, I want to extend a huge thank you to the St. Jude team and all of the Target partners and volunteers across the country who have dedicated countless hours and financial resources to help St. Jude achieve their mission of saving lives and finding cures.”