Kay Kafe opens, St. Jude address changes

Photography provided by Peter Barta, Seth Dixon, Jere Parobek (BMC)



After months of construction and anticipation, Kay Kafe, the hospital’s bright, new cafeteria, officially opened June 19. Thanks to Sterling Jeweler’s generous gift of $16 million for the facility, Kay Kafe is the new heart of the hospital, serving patients, physicians and scientists, and hospital staff together under one roof. Sterling, the parent company of Kay Jewelers, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and various regional brands, has been a dedicated St. Jude corporate partner since 1999.

Hospital employees, staff, patients and families joined Marlo Thomas, national outreach director for St. Jude; Tony Thomas; Dr. William Evans, CEO of St. Jude; and John P. Moses, CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising organization of St. Jude, to celebrate the event. Sterling representatives were feted at a welcome breakfast and then participated in the ribbon-cutting to officially open Kay Kafe.

A day after the excitement of the Kay Kafe ribbon-cutting ceremony, patients as well as hospital and ALSAC staff gathered to unveil a new street sign and change of address for St. Jude. The hospital’s address, 332 N. Lauderdale Street, was changed to 262 Danny Thomas Place. The numbers of the new address, “262,” represent the founding date of St. Jude, which opened in February 1962. The program included comments from Dr. William Evans; John Moses; Joyce Aboussie, ALSAC Board of Directors chair; Marlo and Tony Thomas; and Bob Breit, MD, St. Jude Board of Governors second vice chair.