1 - The Bradford (PA) Era - Care For Children - Saturday, February 17, 2024
CARE for Children Celebrates 100 Years of Services for Children “It is difficult to believe that CARE for Children is celebrating its 100th birthday. Yet, when seeing the smiles on the children of CARE, year after year, it is easy to see how fast a century can elapse,” according to Tyler R. Hannah, President of the Board of Directors. “Lives are touched on a daily basis, and those days, in turn, add up to years’ worth of therapy, learning and intervention to enrich the lives of those very children and our entire community.” CARE for Children began as an idea that the welfare of children with disabilities should not be left to chance, that an area as large as McKean County should have a formally organized body whose sole purpose was to better the lot of children with disabilities. In January of 1924, at the request of the Rotary Club of Bradford, the Chamber of Commerce called a joint meeting of civic organizations. In addition to Rotary, the Lions Club, Rotary Club of Kane, Smethport Conupus Club, Bradford Branch of the Commonwealth Humane Society, and the Y’s Men’s Club were all in attendance to discuss a plan to help local “handicapped
children.” In August 1924, the Rotary Club met to undertake a survey of the conditions of children with disabilities; each Rotarian taking a section of the area. 37 children were identified. In October 1924, area physicians and surgeons along with nurses from Bradford Hospital screened those identified children. Each child was paired with a Rotarian who helped with transportation to the clinic, identified needs, and monitored ongoing treatment. In November 1924, an orthopedic surgeon traveled from Philadelphia and in the morning hours of clinic saw 20 patients for further treatment. That same afternoon, 9 patients out of the 20 were operated on at the Bradford Hospital with assistance of local physicians and nurses. Children ranged in age from 3 months to 25 years old. As the efforts to provide clinics, treatment, and follow up, the Rotary Club formed the Crippled Children’s Committee which was based on the guidelines set forth by the Pennsylvania Society for Crippled Children. Rotary also fundraised amongst its members, other
clubs and individuals to ensure services were ongoing. Significantly, these first people to concern themselves with the needs of children with disabilities represented three groups in the county; government, the public schools, and the Rotary Clubs. These same three groups continued to provide most of the guidance, support, and services for children with disabilities in McKean County throughout those early years. At an historic meeting in July 1929, it was decided to proceed with a county-wide society, and that membership in the society should be limited to Rotarians in McKean County. Accordingly, on August 14, 1929, the Society was officially founded. The Society was officially incorporated as a public charity/ membership organization in January of 1930. The new Society’s only tangible property consisted of a sheet of paper containing the names of 79 children with disabilities who needed help. There was no money in the bank, no office help, no nurse- not even a desk, a file or a typewriter. Nevertheless, at its first meeting in 1930, the new Board
of Directors voted to conduct a children’s clinic sometime in the month of January. Operations were on a very modest budget for the first year. Receipts (all from the Bradford and Kane Rotary Clubs) totaled $850.50, while expenditures were $774.17. Toward the latter part of 1930, it was realized that immediate attention must be given to raising funds. The idea that only Rotarians from Bradford, Kane, Smethport, and Port Allegany should be members of the new organization was soon abandoned, and other civic groups were invited to participate. Individual memberships at $1.00 or more per year were authorized in 1931 and this remained the principle way of raising operating funds. October 1st, 1930, a full-time nurse was hired to oversee the work of the Society. Her duties included organizing and administering the clinics; ensuring children made it to their assigned hospitals for operations and/ or treatment, and making home visits. The headquarters was in the Bradford Supply Company Building at 130 Main Street in
Bradford. Throughout the 1930’s, clinics were held 6-7 times per year. The Society did a lot of fundraising, led by Rotary Clubs, including membership drives. Early efforts to raise money included raffles, entertainment, and home talent shows. The basic membership campaign began to emerge as the primary way of funding the Society’s work. An additional source of income was developed in 1939, when memorial cards were sold, which in their first year netted almost 10% of the total budget. In the 1940’s, affiliations were established with Zem Zem Hospital (now Shriners Hospital, Erie, PA), Hamot Hospital, Erie PA and Buffalo Children’s Hospital, among others. A Cerebral Palsy School was started in 1946 in the basement of Fourth Ward School with ten children in attendance. In 1949, an equipment loan closet was established to lend wheelchairs, crutches and other equipment to families in need. In 1949, Lena Graham Griffin was hired as an orthopedic nurse, and in 1950 was named executive secretary. During her
leadership at the Society, she witnessed many changes in the treatment of children with disabilities, as it was the era of polio, heavy braces, iron lungs, and segregation in schools and the community. With the emergence of polio in the United States in the late 1940s, the society had its first post- polio clinic in June of 1950. The society began offering speech services at the Cerebral Palsy School in the mid 1950’s. The Smethport Rotary hosted its first Christmas Party for children with disabilities at the Colonial Hotel with 16 children in attendance. During the 1950’s, clinics were at the Bradford Hospital State Room, the Masonic Lodge in Port Allegany and the State Clinic in Kane. In September 1963, the Society applied for funding through the Bradford United Fund in an effort to support the United Way concept. Just a short time later, the Society was included in the Kane Area United Way, Port Allegany United Fund and Smethport United Way (formerly Smethport Community Chest). In 1968, the McKean County Society became CARE for Children continued on PAGE 5
CONGRATULATIONS TO CARE FOR CHILDREN on your 100th anniversary from all of your friends at Pitt-Bradford!