"Fixer Upper" stars Joanna and Chip Gaines donate $1.5 million to St. Jude Children's Hospital
The children of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, received a huge surprise last week thanks to home renovation stars Chip and Joanna Gaines. The former "Fixer Upper" hosts presented the hospital with a $1.5 million check.
People Magazine reported that the money will ensure that families of children with cancer never receive a bill from the hospital for treatment, travel, housing or food.
As well as the noteworthy donation, the couple gifted the nearby St. Jude Target House with a new, one-of-a-kind playhouse. St. Jude Target House offers free accommodations for the families of patients.
"There's something so special about spending time together outside and while we're hopeful that these families will not have to stay here for very long, we wanted to create a retreat for them to explore while they are here," Joanna Gaines told People.
The $1.5 million was raised through the #ChipInChallenge social media campaign with the support of celebrities, including Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez and Kacey Musgraves.
Chip Gaines first announced the campaign June 4 on Instagram, writing, "Every penny we raise will go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and it's a fact that when we all chip in towards one goal, nothing can stop us."
"If this just saves one life, if we just get one kid home to live happily ever after, it will all be worth it," he added.
The couple raised more than $2 million through the campaign. They split the donations between St. Jude, which received $1.49 million and the Brave Like Gabe Foundation, which received $512,000 to continue its work on cancer research.
This is not the first time the couple has helped out the hospital in the fight against cancer. In 2017, the HGTV stars raised $230,000 for St. Jude, after which Chip Gaines shaved his head. Joanna Gaines said on Instagram that meeting the kids that year "completely changed" her and the duo pulled out all the stops to "go even bigger" with their fundraising efforts this year.
The couple, who recently celebrated 16 years of marriage, will be launching their own cable network in 2020.
