President-elect Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump helped raise $16.3 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, over the last decade, a report shows, at a time when the family is disassociating with a number of ventures to avoid conflicts of interest when the president-elect takes office.

“I am amazed by the many ways that you have personally embraced our cause for our children and families,” Richard C. Shadyac Jr., president of the hospital’s fundraising organization, wrote in a Dec. 30 letter to Eric Trump, according to the New York Times.

“As you are aware, we are expanding our lifesaving work and are working to push cure rates even higher in this country and around the world, while improving the lives of survivors by developing and advancing treatments that reduce side effects,” Shadyac wrote, referring to St. Jude’s work against pediatric cancer. “We are only able to do this because of the support provided by donors and supporters like you.”

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Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Trump, 33, had earlier told reporters that his organization has raised more than $15 million for the hospital, despite tax records showing that the Eric Trump Foundation raised less than half that amount. But the letter from the hospital confirms Trump’s account.

The president-elect’s third child, after Donald Jr. and Ivanka, said last month he will remove his name from the organization as a part of the efforts the family is making to address potential conflicts before the inauguration. Donald Trump, however, referred to his son stepping back from his charitable foundation “a ridiculous shame” because of the charitable work he does for children.

Even after he said he will stop raising funds for his namesake foundation, this week Trump told the Times in an email that he would “continue to be a vocal advocate for pediatric cancer and St. Jude’s mission.”

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