Photo by Amy Cherry Local members of the Jaffa Shrine will be stationed at Wal-Mart and BiLo in St. Marys and DeLullo’s Shur-Save in Weedville as part of the annual Shriner’s Hospital Crusade. From left are Bob Neubert, Mike Tesauro, Jim Campbell and Gordon Daghir.

By Amy Cherry

Staff Writer

    Local member of the Jaffa Shrine, donning their familiar red fez hats and bright yellow aprons, will join their fellow members from Blairsville to Lewistown and from New York to Maryland as they participate in the Annual Shriner’s Hospital Crusade set to kickoff this weekend.

 Shriners throughout the tri-state area will be distributing the organization’s newspaper-style tabloids at shopping centers, malls, banks, grocery and department stores.

On Friday and Saturday local Shriners will be stationed at Wal-Mart and BiLo in St. Marys as well as DeLullo’s Shur-Save in Weedville.

According to Shriner Jim Campbell of St. Marys, the annual event has been taking place in Elk County since 1990. Shriner’s were previously stationed at what is now National City in downtown St. Marys and Burke’s Hardware on the Million Dollar Highway.

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

The tabloid depicts stories of children from across the state treated in the Shriner’s orthopedic and burn Hospitals. It also provides instructions on how to contact the Shrine about obtaining help for a crippled or burned child.

Campbell emphasized that treatment is available to all children up to age 18 at the Shriners 19 orthopedic and three burn hospitals located throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Shriners Hospitals offer some of the best orthopedic spinal cord injury rehabilitation and burn care available to children who are in need. Over the past 80 years more than 835,000 children have received medical care at the organization’s 22 hospitals.

There is never a charge to the patient, parent or any third party, for any service or medical treatment at Shriners Hospitals. All treatment is absolutely free.

Ninety percent of the organization’s annual operating budget goes to patient care and research. The Shriners Hospital budget for 2009 stands at $826 million.

Those wishing to make contributions to the Shriners Hospitals may do so this weekend or by contacting the Jaffa Shrine at P.O. Box 1984, Altoona, PA 16603 or calling 1-800-523-3211.