Chip and Joanna Gaines donate $1.5M to St. Jude
America's favorite home improvement duo recently made a trip to Memphis to present St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with a $1.5 million check they helped raise for the hospital through a social media campaign.
Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of "Fixer Upper" which ran on HGTV from 2013 to 2018, also hosted a garden party for St. Jude patients last week and revealed a kid's playhouse that the crafty couple designed themselves, St. Jude announced Thursday.
At the garden party, hosted by the Gaines and Target, Joanna Gaines read to the kids from her book "We Are the Gardeners" before she and her husband presented the hospital with the money raised from the #Chipinchallenge.
Chip Gaines announced the campaign on his Instagram account June 4 and encouraged his followers to donate and "spread the word." He said the couple raised $230,000 for the hospital in 2017 — after which he shaved his head — and that this year, they wanted to present the organization with an even larger check.
"Every penny we raise will go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital," he said in the post. "It's a fact that when we all chip in towards one goal, nothing can stop us."
On June 12, Chip Gaines posted that more than $2 million had been raised through the challenge, with $1.5 million going to St. Jude and $512,000 going to the "Brave Like Gabe Foundation," which supports cancer research.
"This campaign is proof that when we all work together for something bigger than ourselves, anything is possible," he said.
The social media challenge raised $988,000 for the hospital and Chip Gaines made a $547,000 donation to bring the total up to $1.5 million, the hospital said. In addition to this donation and their previous fundraising efforts, Chip and Joanna Gaines also redesigned the dining room at the St. Jude Target House in 2017.
Joanna Gaines posted on Instagram on June 19 that the couple was leaving St. Jude "changed forever."
"The beautiful kids and families here carry such strength and hope, and we were honored to spend the day with them," she wrote.