Owen's vision became Country Cares for St. Jude Kids, a series of radiothons and fundraising efforts that, since 1989, has raised more than $800 million to help St. Jude treat children with pediatric cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, as well as to research cures. Today, more than 200 country radio stations nationwide participate in Country Cares, and the program has influenced similar efforts among gospel, rock and Hispanic radio platforms. None of it would have been possible, however, if Owen hadn't first thrown his weight behind the cause when he was asked by St. Jude founder Danny Thomas, an entertainer and celebrity himself. The fact that Thomas was in the entertainment industry worked in his favor after he partnered with Owen. "I got my first break in radio before most of you were born, doing voices on the old Lone Ranger network show out of Detroit," Thomas wrote in an impassioned letter to the radio industry in 1990, to rally its members behind its cause.