The statistics alone are stunning:

In 22 years, the homebuilding industry across the nation has raised $260 million for cancer research at St. Jude’s Children Hospital in Memphis.

Developers, builders, suppliers and artisans have worked nights and weekends to build 350 Dream Homes, selling chances to win at $100 each. This year, 30 homes will be given away, with a value between $300,000 and $600,000. It’s a winning ticket for all involved.

“It gets people up off the couch and into these homes,” says Russ Laney, associate director of Dream Home Construction at St. Jude’s. “Companies use it as a showcase.”

Suppliers too – like Brizo Faucets and Shaw Floors – not only feature their products in the homes, but serve as national sponsors.

But there’s a bigger picture: All money raised goes directly to St. Jude’s, which has been treating childhood cancer patients since actor Danny Thomas established the hospital in 1962. There is no charge to patients or their families at the facility, which also offers rent-free, state-of-the-art apartments nearby.

“Families don t pay for anything, including lodging, food and treatment,” he says. “And once you’re a patient as St. Jude’s, you’re always a patient – even in remission and into adulthood.”

When Thomas established the hospital 50 years ago, the childhood survival rate was 20 percent. That number now stands at 80 percent; the hospital has a goal of 90 percent by 2015. And research funded by the Dream Home program is a big driver for that.

What started in 1991 as a simple home giveaway at $100 per ticket for a $160,000 home in Shreveport, La., has now grown into an operation that’s coast-to-coast in 15 states.  Three are being given away this month alone: in Paducah, Ky., Oklahoma City, Okla. and Shreveport. Shreveport’s is an annual event that’s raised $23 million in 22 years.

But this is a cause that’s bigger that the statistics.

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