Lend A Hand Society

Last updated
Lend A Hand Society
Formation1892
FounderEdward Everett Hale
Founded atBoston, Massachusetts
HeadquartersBoston, Massachusetts
Website https://www.lend-a-hand-society.org/

Lend A Hand Society (LAH) is a nonprofit organization, founded by the author, philosopher, activist, and minister Edward Everett Hale. [1] [2] [3] Lend A Hand has served the Greater Boston area since 1891, providing financial assistance to people in emergency situations. Working in partnership with over 130 local nonprofit organizations, [4] Lend A Hand Society helps struggling families and individuals maintain housing stability and meet their basic needs, enabling them to stay in their community. [5]

Contents

History

Lend A Hand Society began when small clubs formed in response to the publication of a book titled Ten Times One is Ten, written by Edward Everett Hale in 1870. In the story, ten friends vow to “lend a hand” and recruit ten others to create a cascade of helping others, with the hope to eventually end suffering and accomplish world peace. They follow Hale's four mottos: “Look Up and Not Down, Look Forward and Not Back, Look Out and Not In, Lend a Hand!” [6]

Throughout the years, there have been as many as 800 independent, nonsectarian Lend A Hand charitable clubs with a variety of names in the U.S. and overseas. The office of Edward Everett Hale, then minister of Boston's South Congregational Church, became a clearinghouse for communications between the clubs as well as publishing related magazines, newsletters, and annual reports.

On November 20, 1891, the Ten Times One Corporation was legally formed to be the central headquarters of Clubs. [6] Its name was formally changed to Lend A Hand Society in 1898. Lend A Hand solicited and received funds from its Clubs for national and international emergencies. For example, in 1918 a plea was sent to the Clubs urging them to help others in their communities affected by influenza. In 1923 a letter circulated in response to the Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan urging Clubs to collect money and clothing to send to the office or the Red Cross. [7] In addition to helping in emergency situations, there was support over several decades beginning in 1907 for Dr. Wilfred Grenfell for his medical services to Labrador, including books for traveling libraries and outfitting a medicine chest to accompany the Grenfell Mission on a hospital ship in summers and on a sled in winters. [8] [9]

Closer to home, in 1894 Edward Everett Hale and Rufus Tobey founded The Boston Floating Hospital with the administrative help of Lend A Hand Society. In the spring of 1896, a coalition was formed with the Lend A Hand Society, by which the Hospital obtained the advantages of incorporation. Donations were collected at the Lend A Hand central office and eventually the project grew and evolved with new medical understandings of pediatric patients. [10] Over time the Boston Floating Hospital for Children became an independent organization, before later becoming part of Tufts Medical Center. [11]

The day-to-day work of the Society was in collaboration with other relief agencies, providing aid to meet a need that might otherwise go unmet. Wheelchairs and hospital equipment were loaned to those in need, layettes were given to new mothers, and “gentlewomen” were enabled to earn some money by sewing garments to be distributed primarily to hospitals and the Red Cross. “The hardship of four women during the winter has been partly relieved by weekly sewing of cut-out garments sent us by the Children's Hospital, and by a warm friend of the New England Grenfell Association. This cooperation has rendered a three-fold service. The expense has been met by contributions of Clubs and friends.” [12] From 1913 to 1933 home sewing was a way to provide women with ways to create their own income.

The work undertaken by Lend A Hand varied in scope from operating the Noon-Day Rest, a lunchroom for Boston's working women from 1893 to 1899, [13] to what later became one of the central aspects of Lend A Hand's work, sending books to schools and libraries in the rural South. [14]

For 50 years (roughly 1929–1979), Lend A Hand Society loaned wheelchairs to individuals and social workers. Demand for both short and long term usage was great during this time, leading to waiting lists for wheelchairs. On one occasion, a donor even bought a much needed wheelchair for LAH as a memorial gift due to the short supply. Today, LAH provides support for wheelchairs through financial emergency assistance grants to those who need help paying for wheelchair purchases or repair. [8]

Initially a membership organization with individuals as well as clubs’ dues supporting its work, the clubs diminished, with the rise of social service groups and government welfare programs. In 2008 Lend A Hand legally changed from being a membership organization to a nonprofit organization supported by grants from foundations, donations from individuals, and income from an endowment.

Lend A Hand historical archives are housed at the Massachusetts Historical Society and are available for research and viewing purposes.

Present day mission and programs

Although the work of Lend A Hand has changed over its more than 130 years, the primary mission remains one of providing emergency assistance to people in need in the Greater Boston area. [15] Case managers from over 130 partner nonprofit organizations including hospitals, legal services agencies, housing organizations, senior care agencies, homeless shelters, veterans services, domestic violence programs in the Greater Boston area make requests on behalf of their clients for a variety of urgent needs such as rent and/or utilities payments in arrears, moving or ID assistance, medical equipment not covered otherwise. [16] [17]

In addition, Lend A Hand has two vestigial service programs from the early 20th century

LAH is supported primarily by donations from the community.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Everett</span> American politician, pastor, educator, diplomat and orator (1794–1865)

Edward Everett was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Massachusetts, minister to Great Britain, and United States secretary of state. He also taught at Harvard University and served as its president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfred Grenfell</span> British medical missionary (1865–1940)

Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell was a British medical missionary to Newfoundland, who wrote books on his work and other topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Everett Hale</span> American historian and minister (1822–1909)

Edward Everett Hale was an American author, historian, and Unitarian minister, best known for his writings such as "The Man Without a Country", published in Atlantic Monthly, in support of the Union during the Civil War. He was the grand-nephew of Nathan Hale, the American spy during the Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador</span> Town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

St. Anthony is a town on the northern reaches of the Great Northern Peninsula of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. St. Anthony serves as a main service centre for northern Newfoundland and southern Labrador. St. Anthony had a population of 2,180 in 2021, compared with 2,258 in 2016, 2,418 in 2011, 2,476 in 2006 and 2,730 in 2001.

The Grenfell Mission was a philanthropic organization that provided medical and social services to people in rural communities of northern Newfoundland and Labrador. It was founded by Sir Wilfred Grenfell in 1892 as a branch of The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen based in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Library</span> Online project for book data of the Internet Archive

Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Hargrave Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization. It has been funded in part by grants from the California State Library and the Kahle/Austin Foundation. Open Library provides online digital copies in multiple formats, created from images of many public domain, out-of-print, and in-print books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tufts Children's Hospital</span> Hospital in Massachusetts, United States

Tufts Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts was a downtown Boston pediatric hospital owned by Tufts Medical Center, occupying the space between Chinatown and the Boston Theater District, which closed in summer 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Smith (surgeon)</span> American surgeon and public health advocate

Stephen Smith was a New York City surgeon and civic leader who made important contributions to medical education, nursing education, public health, housing improvement, mental health reform, charity oversight, and urban environmentalism. Smith maintained an active medical practice, was an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital for thirty-seven years, and authored three surgical texts, but he was best known for his public service. Three mayors, seven governors, and two U.S. presidents appointed Smith to almost fifty years of public responsibilities. Shortly before Smith's death in 1922, Columbia University President and future Nobel Peace Prize winner Nicholas Murray Butler awarded him the school's highest honor and pronounced Smith, “the most interesting figure in American medicine and in American public service today.” The New York Academy of Medicine initiated the annual Stephen Smith Medal for lifetime achievement in public health in 2005.

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is a healthcare provider in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston's metro-north communities in Massachusetts. CHA offers services including primary care, specialty care, and mental health/substance use services. It includes two acute care hospitals, primary care and specialty practice facilities, and the Cambridge Public Health Department. CHA maintains an affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is a Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tufts Medical Center</span> Hospital in Massachusetts, United States

Tufts Medical Center, a 15-building campus located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a downtown Boston hospital midway between Chinatown and the Boston Theater District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wexham Park Hospital</span> Hospital in Berkshire, England

Wexham Park Hospital is a large NHS hospital in Slough, Berkshire. It has been managed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust since 2014. Neil Dardis has been the Trust's chief executive since 2018.

Cataldo Ambulance Service and Atlantic Ambulance Service are a private emergency medical services (EMS) provider in the Greater Boston and North Shore areas of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, licensed at the advanced life support (ALS) level by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. As of October 2022, Cataldo had 48 ambulances registered with the state, while the Atlantic division had an additional 45. Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, and with base locations throughout the North Shore, Cataldo provides 911 and interfacility transportation (IFT) ambulance service to several communities, hospitals, and nursing facilities in Massachusetts. Cataldo also operates SmartCare, a mobile integrated health (MIH) provider.

The Boston Miscellany of Literature and Fashion was a monthly literary and fashion magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts from 1842 to 1843. It also published book reviews and music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hale House (South Kingstown, Rhode Island)</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

The Edward Everett Hale House is a historic house at 2625A Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Highway in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. It was commissioned in 1873 by businessman and historian William B. Weeden and designed by architects C. Maxson & Company of Westerly. Edward Everett Hale used the house as a summer home for himself and his family for several decades from the 1870s to the 1910s. The house and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons</span>

Headquartered in Chautauqua, New York, the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons is an interdenominational Christian philanthropic organization. Also known as "The King's Daughters and Sons" or "IOKDS," the organization's mission statement is derived from the Bible's Mark 10, verse 45: “Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Its stated objective is: "The development of Spiritual Life and Stimulation of Christian Activity."

Herbert Israel Margolis was an American orthodontist who was known for his contributions towards field of Orthodontics. He was the President of American Academy of Dental Science and contributed in developing what is known as Margolis Cephalostat which is used in orthodontic diagnosis. He also developed the ACCO appliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennie Collins</span> American labor reformer, humanitarian and suffragist

Jane "Jennie" Collins (1828–1887) was an American labor reformer, humanitarian, and suffragist. Orphaned as a child, she supported herself at 14 by working in the cotton mills, and later as a domestic and a seamstress. She was active in the abolitionist and labor movements, volunteered in military hospitals during the Civil War, and founded a charity for poor working women in Boston. In 1870, at the invitation of Susan B. Anthony, she addressed the National Woman Suffrage Association convention in Washington. The following year, she became one of the first working-class women in the United States to publish a volume of her own writings: Nature's Aristocracy; Or, Battles and Wounds in Time of Peace. A Plea for the Oppressed.

Harriet Elizabeth Freeman was an American botanist, geologist, conservationist, and letter writer. She collaborated with writer and minister Edward Everett Hale. Letters decoded in the early twenty-first century suggest that the two had a romantic relationship that was covered up by Hale's family and biographers.

The 55th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1834 during the governorship of John Davis. Benjamin T. Pickman served as president of the Senate and William B. Calhoun served as speaker of the House.

The 28th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1807 and 1808 during the governorship of James Sullivan. Samuel Dana served as president of the Senate and Perez Morton served as speaker of the House.

References

  1. ↑ "Annual report v.28-30". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  2. ↑ MiFf!in@harvardmag.com (2014-12-15). "Brief life of writer-reformer Edward Everett Hale, by Jeffrey Mifflin | Harvard Magazine". www.harvardmagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  3. ↑ "MHS Collections Online: Lend a hand leaflet. Vol. 28, no. 2 (Feb. 1937)". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  4. ↑ "Partnerships". Lend A Hand Society. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  5. ↑ "About". Lend A Hand Society. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  6. 1 2 "Young people's societies". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  7. ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian; Hammer, Joshua. "The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  8. 1 2 "Lend a Hand Society Records, 1843-1982". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  9. ↑ Connor, Jennifer J. (2017-09-01). ""Dispensing Good Books and Literature" to Coastal Communities: The Role of the Grenfell Mission in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1890s–1940". Newfoundland & Labrador Studies. 32 (2). ISSN   1715-1430.
  10. ↑ "History, season of 1900". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  11. ↑ "Floating Hospital Renamed Tufts Medical Center | Tufts Medicine". www.tuftsmedicine.org. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  12. ↑ "Annual report v.28-30". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  13. ↑ "Lend a hand. A record of progress. By Edward E. Hale, D.D. v.10 1893". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  14. ↑ "Lend a Hand Society Records, 1843-1982". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
  15. ↑ "LEND A HAND SOCIETY - GuideStar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  16. ↑ "What We Do". Lend A Hand Society. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  17. ↑ "The Boston Foundation announces $1 million in grants to 20 organizations, opens new application period for Safety Net Grants program". www.tbf.org. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  18. ↑ "Annual report v.28-30". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.