(NAPSA)—There are many ways individuals across the nation are helping hospitalized children and the less fortunate in their communities. All are heartwarming and worthwhile. Here are just a few: Arthur Cousin, a seventy-something gentleman with an easy smile, spins records from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s on his old turntable as he greets customers at a Norfolk, Va. discount department store. Four of his grandchildren have been treated at the local non-profit children’s hospital, so he likes to help raise funds for other hospitalized kids while he’s on the job. If you make a dollar donation for a Miracle Balloon, Arthur will even entertain you by playing his washboard along with the music. Edna Slayton, of Birmingham, Ala., is a woman who knows the value of a penny. A few years ago, she began to raise money for her local children’s hospital by donning a clown suit on her lunch hour and asking for spare pennies from her store’s customers. Edna’s success fueled her creativity, and soon she was selling hot dogs and chips and organizing craft shows on the sidewalk in front of her store on her days off. She rented out 10-foot square spaces at each craft show for 2,500 pennies. Although her goal wasto collect a million pennies for the children’s hospital, Edna’s final tally came in at 1.4 million, for a grand total of $14,024 raised! N RAISING SPIRITS—Arthur Cousin of Norfolk, Va, visits with a child from the local non-profit children’s hospital he helps raise funds for. At the other end of the country, in New Mexico, Curtis Rosemond manages a large discount department store in Las Cruces. He arranged for his store to donate a computer to the school that raised the most money for their local children’s hospital, and he set up an endowment for the hospital out of his own personal funds. Once, when a child in a poor area outside of Las Cruces had been killed by another child in an accidental shooting, Curtis pulled up with a truckload of food for the people in the neighborhood. What do Arthur, Edna and Curtis have in common besides their unselfish efforts to help hospitalized kids and the less fortunate in their communities? The answer is that they each happen to work for an employer that passionately encourages and supports their charitable activities. Since 1988, Wal-Mart has donated nearly $200 million to the 170 non-profit children’s hospitals affiliated with Children’s Miracle Network throughout North America. A large percentage of these donations have been raised by everyday folks like Arthur, Edna, and Curtis through their respective Wal-Mart stores. They, along with the million other Wal-Mart associates throughout the world, are encouraged to participate in doing good for their communities through charitable programs like Children’s Miracle Network. Every penny of every dollar raised for CMN hospitals stays in the community where it was donated to help care for kids who might even be your next-door neighbor. Through good citizens like Arthur, Edna, Curtis, and all the others like them, and with the encouragement of responsible employers like Wal-Mart, more than 14 million kids were cared for at CMN-affiliated children’s hospitals last year. Here’s how you can get involved and help in your own community: * Buy a one-dollar CMN Miracle Balloon at your local WalMart. * Pledge some of your time to your local non-profit children’s hospital to read to kids, hold newborns, or comfort parents. * Visit the Children’s Miracle Network Web site at http:// emn2001.org/ and find out more about how you can help.
