Southeast Missouri State's football team members gained a different outlook when they visited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on Sept. 3, right before their season opener against Memphis.

"I mean you walk in and you're automatically hit with perspective," coach Tom Matukewicz said. "You find yourself complaining about things that don't matter until you visit a place like St. Jude."

The team was able to connect with the BstronG Forever Foundation through a contact of Matukewicz. BstronG was founded in memory of 10-year-old Brody Gard who died after suffering from a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a malignant stage IV brain stem tumor, for 16 months. Brody Gard was a patient at St. Jude immediately after being diagnosed in July of 2010 and died in November of the following year.

The goal of the BstronG Forever Foundation is for families to be funded for things that are outside of the responsibility of St. Jude.

"There are things that people don't think about when struck with detrimental diseases," Matukewicz said. "Things like gas and groceries have to be paid for, as well as enjoying a Saturday afternoon. They still have lives, you know, people just don't realize that, but Brody Gard's family did."

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the world's premier pediatric cancer research centers. Its mission is to find cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. The magnitude of people at the research hospital is immense. About 7,800 active patients are seen at St. Jude yearly, most of whom are treated on a continuing outpatient basis as part of ongoing research programs.

"We visited the hospital for our players to see real-life situations and real-life tough people," Matukewicz said. "Getting hit on the football field doesn't even compare to battling these diseases."

In turn, Southeast's football team was able to donate $531 to St. Jude.

"It didn't seem like much, but this team was happy to contribute what they could to just a big cause," Matukewicz said.

Gard's sister, Hannah, is a sophomore at Southeast and has felt considerable support from Southeast's football team and the entire Cape Girardeau community since Brody's death.

"It's really cool to see people continuing to support Brody even years later," Hannah Gard said. "At first it was really hard, but this community made it better."

It takes $2.3 million to operate St. Jude every day and to cover costs of treatments and patient care.

"St. Jude made everything so much better than it could've been when Brody was sick," Hannah Gard said. "When we needed answers from doctors or social workers, they were there and genuinely nice. That place isn't a normal hospital; it is far more than that for patients and their families."

Although the community and Southeast's football team assisted the Gard family throughout the loss of Brody to DIPG, the Gard family also did their fair share of inspiring others.

"All we could do was admire the strength of that family," sophomore quarterback Dante Vandeven said. "Our entire sport is just trying to get stronger. You take one look at all of those families that have had to fight cancer, and you see strength. They just had no choice but to be strong."

In honor of the foundation, Southeast football players wore BstonG stickers on their helmets during the Memphis game and played in honor of Brody and his family.

"It was a special weekend for our team," Vandeven said. "You have the players that get more out of it than others, but overall I really believe that the impact was not temporary for us."

Visiting St. Jude affected the team in more ways than just on the playing field. Matukewicz is a father of three daughters and witnessed a father-son moment while visiting St. Jude with the team.

"He was just sitting there in their room adoring his baby son," Matukewicz said. "I'll never forget that image in my head. It makes me want to love my family so much deeper. The things that we think are problems in our lives are nothing in comparison to the St. Jude families."

Southeast lost to Memphis the day after visiting St. Jude, but Matukewicz wasn't worried.

"It's all about those experiences I want to provide my players with," Matukewicz said. "If all my guys did was come to college and learn X's and O's on a board, that wouldn't be what we want to give them as a program. Even though we took a loss on that season opener, this team got a really good feel of what some people have to deal with and how thankful we are to have our health."

Southeast football is set to play its first Ohio Valley Conference matchup this Saturday at Murray State. The Redhawks, who are currently 0-3, face a Murray State team that also is looking to win its first game of the season.