“Colorado Unites for St. Jude” Gala Raises $700,000 Benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Event at Denver Art Museum honors Scott "Kidd" Poteet, Polaris Dawn mission pilot, showcases patient art, celebrates local artists.

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Supporters from across the Rocky Mountain region raised more than $700,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital^® at the 2023 Colorado Unites for St. Jude gala Saturday night at the Denver Art Museum.

Alongside local patients and their families, this year’s gala honored Colorado resident Scott “Kidd” Poteet, the mission pilot for Polaris Dawn, a space mission scheduled to launch later in 2023, for which St. Jude is the benefiting charity. Poteet was previously the mission director for the Inspiration4 space mission in 2021, which raised $250 million to benefit St. Jude families.

Poteet is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel who served 20 years in a variety of roles including Commander of the 64th Aggressor Squadron, Thunderbird Demonstration Pilot, Test & Evaluation Pilot and Air Force Weapons School graduate.

“It’s truly an honor and a blessing to be part of projects that are bigger than ourselves like the Polaris Program and uniting with St. Jude,” said Poteet. “What we accomplish through this mission will help open the doors for everyone else whether in healthcare on Earth or through humanity’s ongoing quest to explore space. Together, we are moving the needle to improve life here on Earth.”

Also in attendance was Hayley Arceneaux, one of the four Inspiration4 crew members. Arceneaux is a former St. Jude patient and is a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

This unique, immersive fundraiser featured the work of local artists, inspired by artwork created by St. Jude patients. Throughout the evening, attendees were delighted by art-inspired surprises, engaging them in an interactive experience focused on giving back to the lifesaving mission of St. Jude: Finding cures. Saving children.^®

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is located in Memphis, but treats children from all 50 states, including Colorado, and around the world. Generous donors and events like Colorado Unites for St. Jude help ensure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital^®

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.^® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. When St. Jude opened in 1962, childhood cancer was considered incurable. Since then, St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate from 20% to more than 80%, and it won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. Visit St. Jude Inspire to discover powerful St. Jude stories of hope, strength, love and kindness. Support the St. Jude mission by donating at stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and subscribing to its YouTube channel.