In the neighborhood of 91 children in the Minot area are provided with wheelchairs and other care by the Shriner’s Healthcare for Children, says Ken Gillespie, Kem Shriners hospital representative for the Minot Shrine Club.

“Especially wheelchairs are provided” by the Shriner’s Healthcare System, Gillespie said.

Minot, Williston and Devils Lake Kem Shriners support the Shriners Healthcare for Children.

Gillespie said the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Minneapolis-St. Paul has been sold and a new clinic is being built in Woodbury, Minn.

The WGA4Kids (Women’s General Auxiliary) of the Shriner’s Healthcare for Children in the Twin Cities, is the only healthcare system in the Shriner’s network that has an auxiliary. The auxiliary is supported by Kem Shriners and many other Shriner Temples that the healthcare system serves.

WGA4Kids will continue to support the children by providing wheelchairs for them, according to WGA information. It is through the help of the auxiliary that children can have the wheelchairs they need at no cost to their parents. The annual budget for the wheelchairs is $350,000.

Gillespie, well known as “Dizzy the Clown,” has been a Shriner for 46 years. He will be installed as president of the International Shrine Clown Association in San Antonio in February. Besides Kem hospital representative, he has held many positions with the Shriners including president of the Minot Shrine Club and Merrymen, director of the Northwest Shrine Circus, chaplain for the International Shrine Clown Association, president of the North Dakota State Fair clowns and past president of the World Clown Association.

His main goal as an International Shrine clown has been to raise money through the Red Sneaker fund for burn research.

Any family who is interested in the Shriner’s Healthcare System can email intaketc@shrinenet.org or call 1-888-293-2832. Those in the local area also can call the Minot Shrine Club at 838-7388.