CHARITY

Mister USA is proud to support EASTER SEALS, a nonprofit charitable organization that assists more than one million children and adults with autism and other disabilities and special needs annually through a network of more than 550 service sites in the United States, Canada, Australia and Puerto Rico. Sites provide services, therapies and treatments tailored to meet the specific needs of the particular community it serves. The organization assists children and adults with physical and mental disabilities and special needs resulting from any cause, whether diagnosed at birth or incurred through disease, accidental injury or the aging process.

Tragedy Leads to Inspiration

The organization that would become Easter Seals was founded by Edgar Allen, an Ohio-businessman who lost his son in a streetcar accident. The lack of adequate medical services available to save his son prompted Allen to sell his business and begin a fund-raising campaign to build a hospital in his hometown of Elyria, Ohio. That hospital continues to operate today as EMH Regional Medical Center. After the hospital was built, Allen learned that children with disabilities were often hidden from public view. Inspired by this discovery, in 1919 he founded what would become the National Society for Crippled Children, the first organization of its kind.

The Birth of the Easter Seals Seal

In the spring of 1934, the organization launched its first "seals" campaign to raise money for its services after funding declined during the Great Depression. To show support for the program, donors purchased the seals and placed them on envelopes and letters, in addition to normal postage. Cleveland Plain Dealer cartoonist J.H. Donahey designed the first seal. Donahey based the design on a concept of simplicity because those served by the charity asked "simply for the right to live a normal life." The overwhelming public support for the seals campaign raised $47,000, over twice the annual budget, and triggered a nationwide expansion of the organization and a swell of grassroots efforts on behalf of people with disabilities. In 1944, the organization broadened its mission to help adults and achieved a nationwide reach by 1950.

The "Easter Seals" Name Emerges

The lily, a symbol of spring, was officially incorporated as Easter Seals' logo in 1952 for its association with resurrection and new life. It has appeared on each seal since then. By 1967, the Easter "seal" was so well recognized, the organization formally adopted the name "Easter Seals." Today, Easter Seals holds an annual seal art contest, open to the public. Each year, six winning seal artwork designs are chosen and featured on the seals. Easter Seals mails seals to more than 19 million households across the country every year.

Visit the official Easter Seals site and learn more about the organization and its incredible services by clicking the logo below:

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