TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama Tri Delta Sorority is sponsoring a Cookout for Cancer and a letter-writing campaign to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Thursday, April 15, from 5-7 p.m. at the Tri Delta house.

The cookout will feature entertainment by an acoustic band for those who want to stay and eat, as well as roadside take-out service. Tickets for the cookout are $5.

This year, Tri Delta hopes to raise $10,000, for St. Jude Hospital and to promote awareness about the importance in helping this facility. The letter-writing campaign is a joint effort of all chapter members to send out letters, formatted especially by St. Jude representatives, to family members and friends asking for contributions to the hospital. All donations will be collected until the date of the cookout and sent directly to St. Jude.

St. Jude was founded in 1962, and since this time has improved the childhood cancer survival rate of 20 percent to more than 70 percent survival rate today. St. Jude is the single largest center in the U.S. for research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other childhood diseases.

In 1999, St. Jude and Tri Delta formed a partnership and as a result Tri Delta members have raised over $400,000 for the hospital. In September 2002, Tri Delta’s Executive Board agreed to a four-year, million dollar commitment to endow the Patient Teen Room at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

For more information about these events, contact Kate Christopher at 256/777-1315 or come by the Tri Delta house, 846 Magnolia Drive.