St. Jude Field of Dreams fundraiser returns May 13 to Grand Bohemian

No family wants to end up at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, but once they get there, they say they would not want to be anywhere else for their child’s treatment. That’s the experience Mountain Brook resident Emily Anderson and her husband had when their son, Slade Anderson, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a form of blood cancer.

“I could talk for hours about how wonderful St. Jude is,” Emily Anderson said. “I say this time and time again — it’s one of those places you kind of hope you never have to go, but once you’re there, you couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”

For the past three years, the Anderson family has worked to give back to St. Jude through St. Jude Field of Dreams, an annual fundraising event started by former Vestavia Hills resident Michael Schefano and his daughter, Sophia Schefano.

When Sophia Schefano, who will turn 12 this month, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer, as an infant, her doctors encouraged Michael Schefano to take her to St. Jude. Retinoblastoma is a rare cancer in children, Michael Schefano said, and St. Jude had treated cases before.

“A lot of the childhood cancers are like that,” he said. “They’re rare, and you want to go where someone has treated these types of cancer before.”

Sophia Schefano has been treatment-free for seven years, although she’ll “always be a cancer patient,” Michael Schefano said. The idea to start a charity for St. Jude came up four years ago when they were talking to a social worker with a hospital, when they wanted to find a way to give back.

“We believed strongly enough in it [St. Jude] that we started this charity to give back and help,” Michael Schefano said. “It costs around $2 million a day to operate that hospital.”

In its first two years, the Field of Dreams raised more than $240,000 for St. Jude.

“We’re very honored, and we’re very blessed to be in Birmingham,” Michael Schefano said. “It’s such a giving city.”

Slade Anderson and Sophia Schefano will be honored at this year’s May 13 event, along with three other former St. Jude patients — Evie Frith, Thompson Wagner and Cole Tanner.

The event is at the Grand Bohemian Hotel and includes dinner, entertainment provided by AudioSketch and live and silent auctions.  

“It’s such a wonderful event, and it’s so much fun,” Emily Anderson said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about finding a cure to end childhood cancer, and that’s what we’re all there for. It’s not about the kids who are done with treatment and are all doing well — it’s about all those kids who are about to get diagnoses.”

All of the proceeds go to St. Jude’s programs, including its research and support for families. 

“Hopefully they can cure childhood cancer,” Michael Schefano said. “They share their research with hospitals around the world …They’re cutting-edge; they’re right on top of it. If you’re wanting to donate to any type of cancer research, it really seems to start right here with these kids.”