Jim Campbell of St. Marys and Bud Neubert of Brockway organized the annual Shrine Hospital Crusade which will take place this weekend. Shriners will be distributing informational tabloids at Wal-Mart and DeLullo’s Supermarket in Weedville Friday and Saturday.

By Grace Kriegisch
Daily Press Staff

As part of the annual Shrine Hospital Crusade, local Shriners will be distributing their newspaper style tabloids Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7.

The Shriners will be at Wal-Mart and also at DeLullo’s Supermarket in Weedville. Heading up the event this year is Jim Campbell of St. Marys and Bud Neubert of Brockway.

The purpose of the hospital crusade is to inform the public throughout the Commonwealth of the free health care services provided by Shrine Hospitals.

The tabloid not only relates stories of children from across the state who have been treated at some of the best Orthopedic and Burn Hospitals across the country, it also provides instructions on how to get help for a child in need.

Treatment at a Shrine facility is available  to all children up to the age of 18 without regard to race, religion or relationship to a Shriner. Currently there are 19 orthopedic and three burn hospitals located across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In Pennsylvania, one orthopedic hospital is located in Erie and the other is in Philadelphia. The two closest burn hospitals are located in Boston and Cincinnati

  It should be noted that all treatment at Shriner facilities is provided absolutely free of charge. There is absolutely no charge to a patient, parent or third party for any medical care received.

Due to the Shrine fraternity’s commitment  to give aid to children in need over the past 80 years, more than 835,000 children have received the medical care they need at the 22 Shrine hospitals.

It is estimated that the Shriners hospitals budget for 2008 is $826 million  and the hospitals are able to dedicate 93 percent of the funds to patient care and research.

Currently, there are close to 400,000 members of the Shrine of  North America belonging to 191 Shrine Temples throughout the land. During this Crusade weekend, Shriners will be out in force at shopping centers, malls, banks, grocery stores and department stores wearing  the familiar red fez. Show your support by picking  up a free copy of the hospital tabloid  and reading  of the important work that is accomplished through donations by individuals and businesses alike.

If you know of a child in need of the medical services they provide, contact the Shriners.

Donations may be made during crusade weekend or by contacting the Jaffa Shrine at P.O. Box 1984, Altoona, PA 16603. For more information on the Shriners Hospital call the Jaffa Recorders Office at 814-944-4043 or 1-800-523-3211.

In addition to the annual Newspaper Crusade, the ongoing “Can Tab” collection, sponsored by the Shriners,  has proved to be a great success. To date a total of $15,684.77 has been raised for the two Shrine hospitals in Pennsylvania. Everyone is urged to keep the ‘Tabs” coming. It is an easy way to support the Shrine cause.