Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis
Abilities redefined, possibilities reimagined
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Children with disabilities and their families face significant challenges each and every day, and Variety the Children’s Charity of St. Louis strives to meet their needs to improve the quality of life of the entire family. We offer a comprehensive and dynamic breadth of services for children with special needs, at no charge, with a specific focus on the needs of low-to-middle income families in Greater St. Louis, by providing them with physician-prescribed durable medical equipment and therapy as well as recreational, educational, and cultural opportunities. To many children, Variety helps them realize a more fulfilling life, create closer connections to their families, participate in experiences they never thought possible, make friends, and even inspire future life and career goals.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Durable Medical Equipment
Variety St. Louis provides vital, physician-prescribed medical equipment to hundreds of children with disabilities from low-to-moderate income families who live in the St. Louis metropolitan area, spanning 30 counties in Missouri and Illinois. This equipment includes manual and power wheelchairs, walkers, communication devices, leg braces, hearing aids, prostheses, van lifts, safety beds, and more.
For a family to receive assistance, they must demonstrate financial hardship in providing the necessary equipment for their child. Variety ensures each child receives a proper initial equipment evaluation to achieve a custom fit. Once the equipment is delivered, Variety is available to work with the vendor to make any adjustments to the equipment until satisfactory.
Once an eligible child is enrolled with Variety, he or she will continue to receive new equipment and/or repairs as they grow or their needs change until the age of 21, resulting in no out-of-pocket expense for the family.
TherHappy Kids
TherHappy Kids provides families of children with physical and developmental disabilities with financial assistance to access therapy services.
Therapy is a critical component of the health and well-being of a child with a disability. At times, Variety Kids may need more consistency and increased frequency of therapy visits to adequately address their needs. Variety Families are often unable to meet that need as it may not be covered by private or public insurance. To help close the gap, Variety provides access to medically prescribed physical, occupational, equine, aquatic, and speech therapy. Variety enables children to receive therapy necessary for their growth when they need it.
Consistent therapy services are integral to a child's progress in strengthening, range of motion, functional mobility, and independence. With Variety's assistance, area children with disabilities are provided with uninterrupted access to these vital services.
Recreation
Variety's Recreation program features Adventure Camp, a day camp held for multiple weeks in the summer and a few days over winter break. Adventure Camp is free and open to children ages 4 through 16 with physical and developmental disabilities. The focus of this program is to increase socialization and develop confidence. Campers receive one-on-one assistance from staff as they take on new challenges, such as rock climbing, sports, cooking, music, ice skating, fishing, and more. For older youth, ages 14 – 20, Variety offers free Teen Camp sessions which include all of the above activities, with the addition of leadership development.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, summer camp was moved online in 2020 and 2021, featuring familiar counselors and engaging activities.
Variety also hosts two family events per year that provide opportunities for networking and socializing. Recently, online social groups have offered opportunities for Variety Kids and Teens to socialize with their peers.
Performing Arts
Variety's inclusive Performing Arts program includes Variety Theatre, Variety Children's Chorus, and Variety Dance.
Variety Theatre provides children of all abilities the opportunity to perform in a professional musical theatre production. Participants gain knowledge and experience in all aspects of theatre craft. Variety Theatre's first professional production was Tom Sawyer in 2009 and it has continued to grow each year, with shows now reaching audiences of 10,000.
Since 2000, the Variety Children's Chorus, a fully inclusive vocal group, has been showcasing the incredible talents of children with special needs throughout the St. Louis region. Chorus has grown in recent years to 50+ performers who learn to read music and take direction, as well as gain confidence.
Variety Dance gives kids of all abilities a chance to learn and practice basic musical theatre-style choreography in an inclusive environment. Teachers from local dance companies teach this class of 20+ kids.
Where we work
Awards
William R. Forman Silver Heart Award: This annual award recognizes the top Variety tents (chapters) from around the world. St. Louis Variety won the award for its dynamic fundraising effort and extraordinary record of services to children with disabilities. 2008
Variety International
Television Partnership Award to KMOV-TV (St. Louis CBS Affiliate) and St. Louis Variety 2007
National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation
William R. Forman Bronze Heart Award: This annual award recognizes the top Variety tents (chapters) from around the world. St. Louis Variety won the award for its dynamic fundraising effort and extraordinary record of services to children with disabilities. 2010
Variety International
Special Award for a Body of Work 2018
St. Louis Theatre Circle
Gold Heart Award 2013
Variety International
Torch Award 2015
Better Business Bureau
Affiliations & memberships
Community Health Charities 2008
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
As a leading local charity with expertise in serving more than 100 types of disabilities, Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis is making a difference in the life of a child, every hour of every day, as a result of its focus on continuous service each time a child needs our support.
Built on the model of providing access to critical services and support through durable medical equipment and therapy, and providing opportunities for recreation, socialization, and artistic expression through Variety Performing Arts, this organization improves the quality of life for Variety children by focusing on their abilities, not their disabilities.
Through our unique model, these children build the skills they need to engage and experience their world as fully as possible and demonstrate belief in themselves, their abilities, and their contributions to society. They can then gain and maintain independence at home, in school, and in the community.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
For many children, it all begins with durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, braces, communication devices combined with various types of therapy to fully utilize it. This is the bedrock of our approach.
From there, Variety children make valuable progress through our recreation and performing arts programs. Each program is specifically adapted to afford these children maximum growth in skills, self-esteem, socialization, and independence.
These programs help Variety children reach benchmarks and milestones that, before, were never thought possible. At the same time, each program fosters the opportunity for each participant to just be a kid. Each child's advancement is integrated throughout all of our programs to provide a holistic approach to his or her services. This is the key to reaching profound growth.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Variety empowers children with physical and developmental disabilities, also referred to as children with special needs, and improves their quality of life. Our programs highlight ability rather than disability. This holistic approach gives access to critical medical equipment and therapies, along with innovative Camp and Performing Arts programs, which provide opportunities for recreation, socialization, and artistic expression. Children gain or maintain independence, boost socialization among their friends and family, demonstrate belief in themselves, and increase skills they need to engage their world as fully as possible
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Recent accomplishments include the development of a uniform program assessment tool to track satisfaction and outcomes against the core competencies of skills, socialization, self-esteem, independence. Other accomplishments include transitioning Variety completely to a direct service provider, continuing to increase awareness by engaging and partnering with key community partners and recruiting two key leadership positions.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis
Board of directorsas of 03/18/2024
Mr. Lawrence Otto
US Bank, St. Louis Market President (retired)
Term: 2018 - 2023
Steve Crimmins
Nestle Purina Pet Foods (retired)
Marilyn Fox
Community Volunteer
Thelma Steward
Community Volunteer
Steven Gross
Gross Financial Group
Leslie Wilson
BKD LLP
Warner Baxter
Ameren
Amy Best
US Trust, Bank of America
Ian Caso
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Joseph Castellano
Anheuser-Busch AB-InBev
Laura Ellenhorn
Edward Jones
Donald Ferguson
Land Dynamics Inc.
Sean Fleming
Distribution Management
Mary Kaye Fort
Community Volunteer
Cheryl Fromm
Community Volunteer
Raymond Gruender
US Court of Appeals
David Hogan
Hogan Transports Inc.
Christopher Kerckhoff
Plancorp
Lee Kling
The Kling Family Foundation
Nancy Kranzberg
Community Volunteer
Davida Lichtenstein
David B. Lichtenstein Foundation
Michael Lefton
Metal Exchange Corporation
Daniel Ludeman
Concordance Academy
Robert O'Loughlin
Lodging Hospitality Management Corporation
Terri Owen
Fleishman-Hillard
Erin Prange
The Big Muddy Dance Company
Lucia Rosenbloom
Community Volunteer
William Schock
Schock Law
Paul Shaughnessy
BSI Constructors, Inc
Kimberly Springer
Attorney-At-Law
Michael Staenberg
TSG Properties
David Steward
World Wide Technology
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/18/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.