Each year local members of the Shriner's and Masonic Lodge of Wadena raise money from businesses and organizations to provide free tickets for kids to attend the Shrine Circus in Fergus Falls.
Last Wednesday, Dale Jokela, a Shriner from New York Mills, was among the local members to escort a bus load of kids and adults from Mills to the circus. Another bus from Sebeka met the Mills group at the school before heading to Fergus.
The annual event is a major fundraiser for the Shriners. All of the profit, after expenses are paid, goes to support the work of Shriners Hospitals.
The Shrine Circus is the largest fundraiser run by the Shriners of North America. The Shriners are an international fraternity with approximately 450,000 members throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The fraternity was founded in 1872, and has grown since that time. They are an active organization that do much within their communities. Spreading good will has been one of the Shriners' top goals, and the official philanthropy of the group is to provide quality medical care for children through the Shriners Hospitals.
The first Shriners Hospitals for Children first opened in 1922, and is a network of pediatric specialty hospitals, founded by the Shrine, where children under the age of 18 receive excellent medical care absolutely free of charge. There are 18 orthopedic Shriners Hospitals, three Shriners Hospitals dedicated to treating children with severe burns, and one Shriners Hospital that provides orthopedic, burn and spinal cord injury care. There are 20 Shriners Hospitals in the United States and one each in Mexico and Canada. These "Centers of Excellence" serve as major referral centers for children with complex orthopedic and burn problems.
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All of the orthopedic hospitals are equipped and staffed to treat children with congenital orthopedic deformities, problems resulting from orthopedic injuries, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Three of the orthopedic hospitals (in Chicago, Philadelphia and Sacramento) also have special programs dedicated to caring for children with spinal cord injuries.
The Shriners Hospitals in Boston, Cincinnati, Galveston and Sacramento treat children with acute, fresh burns; children needing plastic reconstructive or restorative surgery as a result of "healed" burns; children with severe scarring, resulting in contractures or interference with mobility of the limbs; and children with scarring and deformity of the face.
The Fergus Falls circus is put on by the Birak Shrine, a group that consists of about 25-30 smaller community chapters. This was the 53rd annual circus put on by Birak.
