The Power of Community Support

When a family receives a childhood cancer diagnosis, they face overwhelming challenges that extend far beyond medical treatments. During Maddy’s treatment at St. Jude, her mother Julie experienced firsthand how critical community support becomes.

“Our family was very helpful, especially with Lucas [Maddy’s brother],” Julie recalls. “He would stay at my parents’ house, or my brother’s or my husband’s brother’s house, he would play with his cousins and have fun. That was the biggest help so we didn’t have to worry as much about him.”

Beyond family, their community stepped up in ways both practical and profound: “Our friends paid for our house to be cleaned 2x a month for 4 months… That was amazing. Some of our friends did our yardwork. Basically just doing the necessary stuff for us so we could focus our time on the important things.”

This circle of support allowed Julie and Ron to direct their attention to what mattered most—Maddy’s treatment and recovery. Through our partnership with St. Jude, we aim to create a similar circle of support for other families facing childhood cancer.

Primary Ways to Support Through Champion Mulch

Our partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® offers several straightforward ways for you to contribute:

1. Purchase Mulch to Generate Donations

From January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025, Champion Mulch & Landscape Supply will donate $0.50 to St. Jude for every yard of mulch purchased at any of our locations or through our website www.gotochampion.com. This applies to all mulch types, including:

• Black Platinum
• Brown Platinum
• Brown (Black) Gold
• Cedar Mulch
• Champion Special
• Gardener’s Choice
• Ultra Black
• Ultra Brown
• Ultra Red
• Kid’s Carpet

Whether you’re a homeowner refreshing garden beds or a professional landscaper ordering bulk materials, every yard contributes to St. Jude’s life-saving mission.

2. Display a Yard Sign & Save

Request a “Champion Mulch and Landscape Supply, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®” yard sign with your mulch purchase, place it in your front yard where it’s visible, and receive a $3.00 discount per cubic yard on your mulch.

This program serves two valuable purposes: it provides you with significant savings on your landscaping supplies while helping raise awareness about St. Jude throughout our community.

3. Add-On Donations at Checkout

During checkout at any Champion location or on our website, you can add a donation of $1, $3, or $5 to your purchase. One hundred percent of these additional donations go directly to St. Jude to support their mission of finding cures and saving children.

As Julie reminds us, “Every dollar counts.” These small donations collectively make a significant impact.

4. Enhance Your Coupon Savings While Supporting St. Jude

When you use any current Champion Mulch coupon from Clipp or Town Money Saver magazines AND agree to place a St. Jude/Champion Mulch yard sign in your yard, you’ll receive an additional $3 off your total order.

5. Share on Social Media

Help spread awareness about St. Jude’s mission by sharing your support on social media:

1. Take a photo of your Champion Mulch/St. Jude yard sign in your yard
2. Post it on your social media accounts
3. Tag Champion and St. Jude (@StJude) in your post

Facebook – @ChampionMulchandLandscapeSupply

Instagram – @ChampionMulchOH

X – @ChampionMulchOH

TikTok – @ChampionMulchOH

4. Use the hashtags #MulchThatMatters #ChampionMulchForStJudeKids

For every social media post that follows these guidelines, Champion Mulch will donate an additional $1 to St. Jude (up to $500 annually).

6. Options for Wholesale Customers

For our wholesale customers whose orders require semi-truck deliveries, we offer specialized giving opportunities. These customers can speak with their sales representative about various ways to participate in our St. Jude partnership, including direct donations through our dedicated St. Jude fundraising link at https://www.stjude.org/ChampionMulch.

7. Direct Donations Without Purchase

For those who wish to support St. Jude but aren’t currently planning to purchase mulch or other products, you can make a direct donation through our dedicated St. Jude fundraising page at https://www.stjude.org/ChampionMulch. This option allows anyone to join our mission of supporting St. Jude’s work, regardless of product needs.

Beyond Mulch: Supporting Families Facing Childhood Cancer

Julie’s experience offers valuable insights into how communities can support families facing childhood cancer. When asked what friends and family can do to help, she shared this wisdom:

“I think the biggest suggestion I have for friends and family is instead of asking what they can do or what we need, just do it. I know when people ask me how they can help I was not great at telling them or I couldn’t even think of anything they could do. I think the best way others helped us was just seeing something that needed to be done (like cutting grass) and doing it so we didn’t even have to think about it.”

This practical approach—identifying needs and meeting them without adding to the family’s mental load—makes an immense difference. Some ways communities can help families facing childhood cancer include:

• Organizing meal deliveries
• Offering childcare for siblings
• Helping with household maintenance and cleaning
• Providing transportation assistance
• Simply being present and available

Through our partnership with St. Jude, we extend this community support to families we may never meet, but whose burdens we can help lighten.

Real Impact: What Your Support Provides

Every dollar raised through our partnership helps ensure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food. Here’s what different donation amounts can provide:

• $3 can help provide pediatric isolation masks to protect patients with compromised immune systems
• $10 can help provide a new toy for hospital play areas
• $30 can help provide one meal card for a St. Jude family
• $100 can help provide a red wagon used for transportation
• $500 can help provide one hour of physical therapy

Julie emphasizes the critical importance of supporting St. Jude’s research mission: “The federal government only gives 4% of the cancer research budget to pediatric cancers, the rest goes to adult treatments that can’t be used on children. Children are not profitable to the government or big pharma. I think I read that Americans spend more money on Starbucks in 3 DAYS than the federal government spends in ONE YEAR on childhood cancer research.”

This stark reality makes St. Jude’s work—and the community support that enables it—all the more essential.

Why Every Contribution Matters

When Maddy was diagnosed with brain cancer at just 9 months old, her family found hope and healing at St. Jude. After a relapse in 2021, Maddy is thriving in kindergarten, making friends, and living a normal life. She has been cancer-free since January 2022.

Stories like Maddy’s are possible because of St. Jude’s comprehensive approach to childhood cancer treatment, which in turn is made possible by community support.

“St. Jude shares their findings all over the world so it can help everyone, not just their patients,” Julie notes. This global impact multiplies the effect of every donation, helping children far beyond those who directly receive treatment at St. Jude.

Join Us in Supporting St. Jude

Champion Mulch & Landscape Supply has set an ambitious fundraising goal for 2025 through our partnership with St. Jude. With your help, we can reach and even exceed this goal, making a meaningful difference for children and families facing childhood cancer.

We invite you to join us in this important mission. Every yard of mulch, every yard sign, every add-on donation contributes to a cause that’s saving lives and giving hope to families in their darkest hours.

As Matt Brun shares, “After seeing what St. Jude did for our family, for Maddy, I wanted to find a way to give back in a significant way. By connecting our business to their mission, we’re creating an opportunity for our entire community to participate in something truly important.”

When you choose Champion Mulch in 2025, you’re not just enhancing your landscape—you’re helping ensure that families facing childhood cancer receive the extraordinary care that St. Jude can provide.

Because at Champion Mulch & Landscape Supply, we believe the most beautiful landscapes grow from purpose and compassion.

Frequently Asked Questions