The Washington Antiques Show is the major annual fund raising event of the Thrift Shop Charities, a 501(c) (3) organization incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1930. All net proceeds from the show are passed directly through the Thrift Shop Charities to four charitable, all-volunteer boards: The Board of Visitors and The Child Health Center Board, benefiting the Children's National Medical Center of Children's Hospital; The Ladies' Board of The House of Mercy, benefiting the Rosemount Center; and The Founders Board of St. John's Community Services, benefiting St. John's Community Services, Inc.

THRIFT SHOP CHARITIES

Thrift Shop Charities' early mission of raising monies to benefit healthcare and educational services for children, adults, and their families was accomplished mainly through the sale of donated and consigned goods, primarily clothes.

In 1955, two Thrift Shop Charities board members, Mrs. Richard P. Dunn and Mrs. James H. Lemon, founded the Washington Antiques Show as a fund raising event. To date, the Washington Antiques Show has raised close to $6 million for Thrift Shop Charities beneficiaries.

The volunteer leaders of the Washington Antiques Show wish to introduce you to the charities supported by the show and offer highlights of how the show's net proceeds have a direct impact on providing services and programs to needy children and their families in the Washington, DC community.

THE BOARD OF VISITORS, CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) was founded in 1870. This nationally-acclaimed teaching pediatric hospital is known for its innovative programs in treating the emotional and physical needs of its patients. It has the only pediatric burn center in the mid-Atlantic region and is a pioneer in the treatment of critically ill newborns.

The Board of Visitors of CNMC was established on December 8, 1870, under the original charter of Children's Hospital. Since its formation, the Board's mission has been to assist in the operation of the hospital and to help meet its needs. The Board has sponsored, inaugurated, and funded many significant programs and:

• Annually awards grants for research, medical equipment, educational programs, and publications
• Funds the Family Library and Dr. Bear's Toy closet, which provides toys and gifts for all patients in the hospital

The Washington Antiques Show, The Thrift Shop, The Care for Kids Shopping Card Program, "A Vintage Affair," our annual wine auction, and the Hospital Gift Shop are the major sources of income for the Board of Visitors. Members of the Board of Visitors volunteer in the Hospital and at The Thrift Shop on a regular basis.

Children's National Medical Center is located at 111 Michigan Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20010. For more information, visit CNMC's Web site at http://www.dcchildrens.com.

THE CHILD HEALTH CENTER BOARD, CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

The Child Health Center Board (CHCB) of CNMC was created in 1866 as the Washington Diet Kitchen to provide milk to the city's poor after the Civil War. Today, as the designated outreach and advocacy board of Children's Hospital, the CHCB stays true to its original mission of "keeping the well child well" by working to bring the hospital's expertise and services to parents and children beyond the four walls of the institution.

The CHCB provides grants that support:

• The National SAFE KIDS Campaign, which works to prevent accidental childhood injury
• "It's Wise to Immunize," which provides immunizations to many of Washington's poorest children
• Community health clinics in Shaw, Adams Morgan, and Anacostia
• Targeted initiatives focusing on child obesity, asthma, injury prevention, child abuse and neglect, and foster care.

In addition, the CHCB is the founding sponsor of the hospital's Child Health Advocacy Institute (CHAI) Data Lab, a vehicle for collecting data that will provide information to proactively address health threats impacting children and to serve as a national voice in the development of child health policy.

Without the CHCB's support, many of these projects would not have gone forward. And without the Washington Antiques Show, the CHCB would not be able to fund them. In addition to working on the Washington Antiques Show, the CHCB organizes other fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for its grants and activities.

Children's National Medical Center is located at 111 Michigan Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20010. For more information, visit CNMC's Web site at http://www.dcchildrens.com

THE LADIES' BOARD HOUSE OF MERCY

Washington had been the capital of the young Republic for less than a hundred years when a group met just north of the White House, at St. John's Church, Lafayette Square, to consider some city mission work. The committee saw an immediate need to help young women who had come looking for work amid the temptations of a busy city. They were often alone, destitute, and sometimes pregnant.

The first "House of Mercy" opened on K Street in 1884 and offered these women refuge, job training, and reading instruction and maternity and infant care if necessary. By 1911, when it moved to a new "House in the Country" (now in Mt. Pleasant), House of Mercy had evolved into a renowned maternity home and nursery. That same building became the Rosemount Center in 1972 when House of Mercy changed its focus to a particularly 20th-century need quality day care.

The Ladies' Board of the House of Mercy provides:

• Annual funds for the Lending Library at the Rosemount Center, which provides day care and education to children in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood
• Gifts of holiday food and clothing to needy Rosemount families
• Clothing, diapers, and other items for Rosemount family newborns.

The House of Mercy's fund-raising arm is its Ladies' Board, also inaugurated in 1884. The Board's continuing major fundraiser is the 68-year-old "Phantom Dinner," a meal to which everyone gives and no one comes. Thanks to the additional income provided by participation in the Washington Antiques Show, the Ladies' Board has been able to contribute significantly to the House of Mercy's annual operating budget.

For information on Rosemount or its Capital Campaign, call Martha Westin at 202-265-9885 or visit the Rosemount Center's Web site at http://www.rosemountcenter.co.

THE FOUNDERS BOARD OF ST. JOHN'S COMMUNITY SERVICES

Since its founding in 1868, children have been at the heart of St. John's Community Services. St. John's began after the Civil War as an orphanage in Washington, D.C. It then became a child development center for children with mental retardation and autism. St. John's Community Services is now a multi-state organization.

The Founders Board of SJCS:

• Supports SJCS programs for children, adolescents, and adults who are living with mental and developmental disabilities in Washington, D.C.
• Provides funds for computers, teaching materials, and holiday parties for the Educational Services Program
• Provides funds for household improvements and holiday gifts for residents and staff in the Residential Living Program, which supports people with disabilities to live in small group homes, individual apartments and other living arrangements of their choice.

All of the services that St. John's provides are 100% community-based and embody the principles and practices of person-centered planning, natural supports, individual choice, and community inclusion. Funds raised recently through the Washington Antiques Show have benefited ninety-nine children and adolescents.

For more information, please call 202-237-6500 or visit us on the Web at http://www.sjcs.org.