Bass angler, YouTube star Fat Cat Newton helps reel in record support for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® at Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic

MINNEAPOLIS, June 5, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bass angler and YouTube star known as Fat Cat Newton helped reel in record support as an emcee for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^® during the 20^th annual Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic from May 4-6 in Minnesota's Wabasha Municipal Harbor.

About 200 bass anglers (92 teams) from across the Midwest who competed in the fishing tournament on the Mississippi River raised $660,294 this year, exceeding their goal by 81 percent and making it one of Minnesota's biggest charity fishing tournaments. Participants have raised approximately $3.3 million since the tournament's inception in 1999. The funds support the St. Jude mission: Finding cures. Saving children.^®

Thanks to the support of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food ? because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Representing St. Jude patient families at the event was patient Mason and his dad Matt who became fast friends with Fat Cat Newton. Not only do they share a love of fishing but also, they learned Newton is a childhood cancer survivor himself.

Two Wisconsin teams tied for top fundraiser recognition with each raising $37,000 for St. Jude kids.

• Dave Mansell and Josh Miller from the village of Roberts
• Jamie Gibson of New Richmond and Lonnie Peterson of Chippewa Falls

Tournament winners are as follows:

• First place: Brian Harmon of Mondovi, Wisconsin, and Cory Hauk of River Falls, Wisconsin, total weight of fish caught was 46.98 pounds;
• Second place: Dave Mansell and Josh Miller of Roberts, Wisconsin, total weight of fish caught was 46.64 pounds; and
• Third place: Joe Hall of Lake City, Minnesota, and Aaron LaRocque of Wabasha, Minnesota, total weight of fish caught was 45.69 pounds.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.^® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food ? because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.com/stjude), following St. Jude on Twitter (@stjude) and subscribing to its YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/MyStJude).

SOURCE St. Jude Children's Research Hospital