Seattle Children’s gets $50 million donation for cancer research

SEATTLE — Seattle Children’s Hospital received a $50 million donation from the William Lawrence & Blanche Hughes Foundation to further childhood cancer research and prevention, the hospital announced Thursday.

The donation is one of the largest gifts given to the hospital by an individual donor in its history, according to a news release. The foundation is based in California and focuses its philanthropic efforts on furthering research on pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia.

To honor the donation, the hospital will rename the Seattle Children’s Research Institute building, located at 1920 Terry Avenue, in honor of B. Wayne Hughes, founder of Public Storage.

“We are deeply grateful for the William Lawrence and Blanche Hughes Foundation and the Hughes family’s incredible generosity that will enable our talented teams to continue to expand their groundbreaking work,” Jeff Sperring, Seattle Children’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The $50 million donation is the latest to the hospital from the foundation. Previously, the hospital was given $50 million to fund pediatric immunotherapy cancer research.

Hughes started the foundation after losing his son, Parker, at age 8 to leukemia in 1988. The foundation was named after Hughes’ parents.

“My father, Wayne Hughes, always wanted to not only cure childhood leukemia but to help create a future free of pediatric cancers so that fewer families suffer the traumatic loss of a child,” Tamara Gustavson, director of the foundation, said in the release.