student-run, year-long fund-raising project, which has been immensely popular at college campuses nationwide, is finally coming to Villanova.

“Up ’til Dawn” supports the research and medical treatment at St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. St. Jude’s is the nation’s premiere research center for catastrophic childhood diseases.

When St. Jude’s first opened in 1962, a child with leukemia had virtually no chance of survival. Today, thanks to the research at St. Jude’s Hospital, 80 percent of children with the most common form of leukemia can be cured.

Patients at St. Jude’s are treated regardless of race, creed, religion or economic standing. Patients do not have to worry about transportation costs, meals, lodging or treatment.

They simply focus on getting better. St. Jude’s relies almost solely on public donations, but with average costs per in-patient day totaling $4,127 and a total operating cost of approximately $715,000 per day, St. Jude’s needs all of the help it can get.

This is where the students of Villanova can truly make a difference and save a child’s life. “Up ’til Dawn” is organizing fund-raising teams, each of which consists of six people.

Through participating in a variety of fun and crazy fund-raising events throughout the year, each member of the team will be able to contribute $100 to the children of St. Jude’s.

That donation will pay for a wig to make a child undergoing chemotherapy feel more comfortable when going out in public or a blood count which could ensure that a child is on the way to recovery.

These fund-raising efforts directly affect the lives of the children of St. Jude’s.

As an additional thanks to all Villanova fund-raising teams, “Up ’til Dawn” will host a night-long extravaganza for all of the teams. There will be music, food and entertainment.

For more information about this effort, attend an informational meeting in the Connelly Center Cinema at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

If you already have a team of six in mind, you can sign up right away, but if not, just bring a few friends and put your team together at a later time.

And remember, you have a chance to save a child’s life.