Cathy Gilbert/Clarendon Citizen
Shriner’s Hospital selects Fenters
Anyone who has attended a parade in our community has witnessed Shriners in action. They zoom across the street in their too-tiny cars in high formation, thrilling their audience with their mastery.
But ask just about any Shriner what their real work is about and they will tell you, “raising money for our Children’s Hospitals.”
“There are two factions to the Shriners,” explained Bill Fenters, who has held some of his lodge’s highest positions. “We have the fraternal part … that is for fun and fellowship. But then we have the charitable part. And that is all about our Children’s Hospitals.
Fenters was recently named to the Board of Trustees that oversees the Shriner’s hospitals in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia and part of Florida.
“I have been a Mason since 1981, and all Shriners are Masons,” Fenters explained. “I became a Shriner in 1985 and have always loved children. Through the Shrine, I saw children who had tremendous needs.”
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs. Children up to the age of 18 with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for admission and receive all care in a family-centered environment with no financial obligation to patients or their families.
“What these hospitals can do for children is amazing,” Fenters said. “The children are treated like kings and queens, as are their families. Children don’t fear coming to Shriners hospitals because they are treated so well.”
No child that meets the criteria is denied care at a Shriner’s hospital.
“From January to April of 2010, we received 521 applications for treatment,” Fenters explained. “We were able to help all but five of those applicants, because they were too old or they were dealing with an illness that Shriner’s hospitals can’t treat.”
Fenters said that Shriner’s hospitals nationwide spend about $2 million per day treating children.
Fenters said that one of his first goals is to develop a program from civic groups like Rotary to better inform the community about the important work the Shrine does.
“We have fun, yes, but we have fun for children, and what better cause is there?”
Fenter’s will officially take his seat next January and serves as a board apprentice at this time. His board service requires a monthly meeting in Greenville and he may serve up to 10 years.
For more information about the Shriners and the Shriners Hospitals for Children, log on to www.shrinershq.org.
