Shriner’s Hospital Falls On Tough Times

As you know, Justin is one of Shriner’s Hospital For Children’s most public contributors and supporters. With his five uear deal with PGA, he has committed to holding an annual golf charity function in order to raise money for the hospital. It seems, however, that the current economic turmoil is still taking its toll:

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Shriners hospitals, which have provided free care since before the Great Depression, are considering closing a quarter of their facilities as donations stagnate, costs increase and the charity’s endowment shrivels.

The group’s director says it’s the only viable option.

Officials at the Florida-based organization say it is siphoning $1 million a day from its endowment to balance the budget for 22 hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, they say, that fund has fallen to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering stock market and a charitable giving slump that has hurt philanthropies nationwide. The fund has been declining since 2001. The group will vote this summer on the closures.

I hope that there is a way that they can save some of these locations. Shriner’s provides free care to children with terrible disabilities and ailments, children whose medical expenditures have superseded that of their parent’s earnings, and it would be really sad to see those kids turned away. I know we can’t single handedly save the charity from closing down some of its properties, but if you’re able, please head over to the Shriner’s official website [HERE] to donate. Hopefully, Justin will be able to help them out a bit.

Source: Yahoo