Variety – The Children’s Charity Begins in Pittsburgh
Variety – The Children’s Charity held its first meeting on October 10,
1927, after a group of 11 close friends decided to organize a social
club where they could relax after work. They rented a small room in the
William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, and named their organization
the “Variety Club,” after the famous show business newspaper. This
seemed appropriate since the members encompassed various phases of show
business. Initially, there were no intentions to expand beyond their
immediate friends, and no real objectives, other than to socialize.
The group’s purpose would take a new turn on Christmas Eve, 1928, when a
one-month old baby was abandoned on a seat in East Liberty’s Sheridan
Square Theatre with a note pinned to her dress that read as follows:
"Please take care of my baby. Her name is
Catherine. I can no longer take care of her. I have eight others. My
husband is out of work. She was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always
heard of the goodness of show business people and I pray to God that you will
look out for her."
[Signed] A Heart-Broken Mother |
When all efforts by the police and local newspaper failed
to locate the mother, the club members, which included the theatre owner,
John H. Harris, decided as a group to act as 11 “godfathers” and to
underwrite the infant’s support and education.
The child was named Catherine Variety Sheridan, her middle name for the
club and her last name for the theatre. The “godfathers” found a new
interest in life and were proud that a distraught mother had entrusted her
child to show business people. The ensuing publicity put Variety on the
front pages of newspapers across the nation. Other men in show business
wanted to help and asked if they could join. Soon the clubroom was filled
to capacity.
Catherine Variety Sheridan, later
When Catherine was five, her foster parents were selected
from more than 300 applicants, in a location away from Pittsburgh, which
was believed to be in her best interests. She remained anonymous
throughout the years, and served her country as an officer in the U.S.
Navy during the Korean conflict and as a registered nurse in foreign
service in Vietnam, raised a fine family, and spent a good part of her
time working with Variety’s children and taking great pride in the fact
that she “started it all.”
It was the welfare of this one small girl that inspired and motivated the
original members of Variety and their friends to band together to help
underprivileged children and those with disabilities everywhere. The
efforts of Catherine’s 11 “godfathers” had exponentially grown into a
worldwide network of thousands of volunteers dedicated to improving the
lives of children in crisis.
Variety – The Children’s Charity …Today
Legacy of Caring
With a legacy of nearly eight decades of caring for children around the
globe, Variety has become the largest and most effective children’s
charity in the world. The organization has grown to 54 chapters in 14
countries raising more than $1 billion to assist in the treatment and care
for disabled, underprivileged and disadvantaged children. Each of these
chapters operates independently in meeting the needs of children in crisis
in their respective regions.
Long considered “The Heart of Show Business,” Variety finds its roots in
the Entertainment Industry. As noted earlier, the Variety Club,
established in 1928 by 11 Vaudeville showmen, still exists today for one
reason – to help children in need.
Since that Christmas Eve in 1928, many decades ago, Variety’s legacy
continues now into the 21st century with the genuinely altruistic support,
partnerships and sponsorships provided by major corporations, corporate
and community foundations, national and international retailers and
individual donors.
Variety – The Children’s Charity assists at-risk children by providing
medical treatment, artificial limbs and special equipment for afflicted
children to help them become more mobile. Variety helps to fight
illiteracy worldwide and offers scholarships. Variety supports local
hospitals and major university research and funds pediatric AIDS and
cancer research. Variety also provides after school curriculums to keep
kids off the streets and funds crisis centers, hotlines and therapy. Many
children with mental and physical challenges are served by Variety’s
national Sunshine Coach Program, generously supported by the Ford Motor
Company, that provides much-needed transportation to agencies and
individuals in conjunction with our Variety-at-Work program, to transport
children throughout their communities to outreach programs, therapy,
school and other activities. Sometimes, we are there simply to give a hug.
Global Mission
Variety – The Children’s Charity provides life-saving and life-enriching
assistance to children worldwide challenged by mental and physical
disability, poverty, abuse and neglect. Through grants, scholarships,
cultural enrichment programs, education, outreach programs and other
activities, Variety supports programs worldwide that will mean the
difference between a life worth living and, too often, no life at all.
Funds are allocated to various family services and children’s agencies and
for summer camp programs to aid disabled, disadvantaged, abused and/or
neglected kids, as well as to children who need medical services, mobility
equipment and assistive technology devices such as wheelchairs, van lifts,
leg braces, augmentation speech equipment, hearing aids, and various types
of prostheses.
Dedicated men and women give their time, talent and resources to make
Variety work. Variety is an organization of volunteers who enjoy the great
feeling that helping a child gives you – the reward of knowing that
because of your efforts, you have made a difference in the life of a
child.
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Visit
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Variety International on the web.
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Visit
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Variety of the United States
on the web. |
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Click Here
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to see
some of the Celebrities that have worked with
Variety
International over the past 75 years. |
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