Helping Hand

In Effingham, Ill. (pop. 8,000), they will never forget the fire that, one April night in 1949, burned St. Anthony's Hospital to the ground, and took 75 lives. "Last week they were reminded of the tragedy by a fact as hopeful as a phoenix.

The day after the fire, a Protestant oilman named J. William Everhart went to see the town's Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. John Goff. Everhart told Father Goff that he wanted to help rebuild the Catholic hospital.

Oilman Everhart began by organizing a ten-man committee, none of them Catholics. With the help of such groups as Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions and the American Legion, they launched an appeal for funds that reached out all over the U.S. They mined every possible source for prospects; anybody who had signed the register at Effingham's hotel for the past five or six years got a letter. More than 100,000 letters went out.

Last week at Effingham, ground was broken for a new six-story, 150-bed St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital. During the ceremonies, the results of Protestant Everhart's helping hand were announced: more than $550,000 from over 35,000 people--some of them from as far away as the Philippines and England. When the new building is finished, Effingham will have a hospital that is also a symbol of human brotherhood.

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