Bloomington-Normal gears up for annual St. Jude Walk, aiming to make big impact
Written by Cole Loiacano on October 2, 2025
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The St. Jude Walk is returning to Bloomington-Normal, intending to raise $300,000 or more to support St. Jude patients and research.
The St. Jude Walk is a nationwide event that generates a substantial amount of support for the organization. This will be Megan Fitzgerald’s fourth year spearheading the event in Bloomington-Normal.
“It started because you see so many walks in the area, and they’re just such a great way to get the community involved and just kind of bring people together for a common cause,” Fitzgerald said. “It is low impact, easy entry for so for people of all ages.”
Fitzgerald said that one of the most important things the event aims to do is create an impact within the local community.
“Sharing a Facebook post or sharing something on Instagram, getting that word and awareness out, especially on college campuses, is so crucial,” Fitzgerald said. “This is a message that is very near and dear to so many people’s hearts, and helping to raise awareness is extremely important.”
Fitzgerald mentioned that every year the event has been hosted, participants have blown goals out of the water.
“I’m hoping to see over 900 people there,” Fitzgerald said. “This is the largest event that we have for St. Jude within Bloomington-Normal, in terms of participant size and the fundraising dollars for a single event.”
Although the event already hit the $300,000 goal ahead of the walk, it is not what Fitzgerald says is most important for success.
“It’s the people in the stories that we get to hear is what makes it a success, we’re very excited and ecstatic about the funds that we’re raising, but also it’s about the stories that we take away from these days,” Fitzgerald said. “We have a patient speaker, who speaks at it every year, and the takeaways from those are the most important thing.”
This year, the St. Jude Walk will take place Saturday, Oct. 4, and begins at 7 a.m. on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.
