History of Variety
 On Christmas Eve 1928, John H. Harris, manager of the Sheridan Square Theatre in Pittsburgh, was shocked to discover a one-month-old baby girl abandoned on one of the theatre seats with a note pinned to her dress:
Please take care of my baby. Her name is Catherine. I can no longer take care of her. I have eight others. My husband is out of work. She was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always heard of the goodness of show business and I pray to God you will look out for her.
A Heartbroken Mother
Show business rose to the occasion. Although the “Variety Club,” a social club created by Harris and 10 additional entertainers, was created a year before the baby was found, the men dedicated this club to caring for the baby, and agreed to underwrite her support and education. They named the child Catherine “Variety” Sheridan. In the process of caring for Catherine, they became aware of many other children in need of help and support and continued to raise money even after an adoptive family had been found for Catherine. The heartwarming situation soon aroused the interest of entertainers all over the world and motivated them to join together to help children with needs and disabilities everywhere.
From its humble beginning, Variety has become an international organization with more than 10,000 members and 50 chapters in 14 countries. Collectively, Variety has raised more than $1 billion, reaching out heart-to-heart, hand-to-hand to children in need throughout the world. Variety is known as “the greatest children’s charity” because of its exemplarly mission . . . to help disabled and disadvantaged children lead more comfortable lives and grow up to be productive, self-sufficient adults.
Variety the Children’s Charity of St. Louis is a vital link in this chain. Serving 1,300 families, Variety helps children with disabilities get the help they need, each time they need it, until they reach age 21. Variety provides medical equipment, transportation, on-going development programs and a resource referral center to help children with disabilities live as independently as possible. Variety also provides financial support for 90 partner agencies whose programs benefit children with physical and mental disabilities. Serving a total of 200,000 local children in 165 ZIP codes, every dollar raised in St. Louis stays in the Greater St. Louis region.
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