Easter Seals

THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR Crippled Children and the International Society for Crippled Children are the precursors to the Easter Seals organization. The impetus behind these was the International Association of Rotary Clubs, later known as Rotary International (RI), a worldwide nonprofit organization of professionals that provides humanitarian services across the globe.

Among its earliest causes, the newly founded RI encouraged local clubs to take on support for the needs of crippled children. Much of the groundwork for this particular crusade can be attributed to the work of Paul Harris, the founder of RI, and especially Ohio Rotarian Edgar Fiske Allen. “Daddy” Allen is considered the founder and visionary of today's Easter Seals organization and is among a handful of Americans honored by the Points of Light Foundation for his outstanding achievements in volunteer work.

In 1907 one of Allen's sons died of injuries sustained by a streetcar accident. Lack of appropriate and immediate medical care for his son eventually led Allen to advocacy for the care of crippled children and culminated in the creation of the Gates Hospital for Crippled Children in 1915 and the Ohio Society for Crippled Children in 1919. In 1921 the National Society for Crippled Children was formed, and the following year the International Society for Crippled Children was also created. Harris and Allen also coauthored the Crippled Children's Bill of Rights, which was adopted in 1930.

The first American Easter Seals campaign was launched in 1934, and was known as the penny seal. In 1952, the lily was incorporated into its design and became synonymous with the cause of Easter Seals. Easter Seals gained popularity when personalities such as President Dwight Eisenhower and actress Lucille Ball showed their support for the cause. With the growing familiarity of the annual Easter Seals stamp campaign, the National Society for Crippled Children adopted Easter Seals as its organization name in 1967. The Easter Seals lily logo is a registered trademark of the American society.

Today, Easter Seals is a successful nonprofit, nondenominational, community-based grassroots organization that works on a local level for the well-being of physically and mentally disabled children and adults. Easter Seals provides assistance for children as well as adults who are disabled either at birth or as a result of illness, accident, or aging. It also provides support for their families.

Operating in communities in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada, Easter Seals provides a wide range of services to the disabled and is considered an expert in disability and special needs. Services include occupational, physical, and speech therapy; job training; transportation; childcare; and adult care. Easter Seals also offers accessible camping and recreational facilities. In the United States, the Easter Seals, Inc., national headquarters is in Chicago and there are more than 550 Easter Seals service sites.

Easter Seals employs professional and managerial staff, and provides specialized training to physicians and other healthcare personnel. The goal of these services is to help the disabled live their lives more independently. In the period 2002–03, Easter Seals provided services to almost 1.335 million children and adults and their families in America.

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