With your help, St. Jude is making a huge difference. Taste of Country's annual timeout to celebrate achievements and cures at the world-renowned children's research hospital isn't a shake down or a plea for donations. It's an invitation to learn the real meaning of words like "hope" and "love."

Artists like Lady Antebellum and Brad Paisley use those words to describe what happens inside the colorful walls of the Memphis, Tenn., campus. Patients and their families may add "magic" or another descriptor that tries to get close to the way the literal and figurative hugs feel every time they visit. No family ever gets a bill at St. Jude — a mission made possible by more than 60 years of support from businesses and families. There's no bill for treatment, medications, lodging or transportation. Even the cafeteria is free, and the food is delicious.

Since last year doctors and researchers have worked tirelessly to push cure rates for childhood cancers closer to 100 percent, but they've also stretched beyond American borders. St. Jude Global aims to cure at least 60 percent of kids with the six most common types of cancer worldwide by 2030, and the mission is focused on underdeveloped nations.

In April 2018, St. Jude announced that gene therapy developed at St. Jude helped cure Bubble Boy Disease, a severe immunodeficiency disease that forced children to live in a literal bubble. In September, St. Jude launched the Paws at Play program which brought Puggle and Huckleberry to kids receiving treatment. Don't worry, we have more on their journey coming soon.

Taste of Country, our friends at the Boot and well over a dozen Townsquare Media radio stations will participate in a two-day radiothon/webathon from Feb. 6-7. It's the seventh year we've invited listeners and readers to learn more about St. Jude and support the Country Cares program by becoming a partner in hope. Nearly $9.2 million has been raised during the previous six joint efforts, with much more raised from other TSM stations later in the year. If you'd like to donate, check here for various options.

Country Artists at St. Jude Through the Years:

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