As a proud Shriner who has sponsored 2 crippled children (and whose mother was born in Kentucky), I would personally like to help Megan. Our 21 Shriners hospitals for crippled and burned children provide free medical care and transportation, if required, to our appropriate hospital to help each individual child. I personally know of amazing successes of both crippled (within my own family) and burned children who cannot say enough good about us Shriners. We are, however a dying breed as Freemasonry has declined now that we have television, blue ray dvd, radio, I Phones, bluetooth, blackberries, and computers; and have come under attack by those who do not know of the common good that we Masons stand for. The Shrine of North America was founded in 1872 as a place for Masons to relax and have fun after traveling through the ritual and formalities of Masonry. We opened our 1st hospital in 1922, eventually rising to 22 in the Americas. We closed our Minneapolis hospital due to non utilization recently, bringing our total down to 21. Yes, we most certainly owe our thanks to Dr Jonas Salk for the vaccine which cured polio; however there are still children like Megan with crippling injuries that we Shriners can help. The next time you see a parade or function with adult men in funny red fezes (with a black tassel that gets in your soup) riding motorcycles or little cars in formation; or dressed as clowns, who visit children in our hospitals...they are Masons who have passed through Scottish or York Rite (Knights Templar) and become Shriners so they might help children, like Megan, of any race, creed, color, or ethnicity; at no charge! May God bless all the children we have treated and those we hope to heal in the future; and may God Bless America!
Donald E. Clark 32º