MormonTimes.com: A place of giving, a place of healing

Primary Children's and children's pennies have been a perfect partnership for decades.

The hospital was founded in 1911 at the urging of Louie B. Felt , then general president of the Primary Association, the children's organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and her assistant, May Anderson. Their chance encounter with a handicapped child in a Salt Lake park inspired the idea of a hospital dedicated to the treatment of children.

From the start, Primary Children's Hospital was not just a place for sick children, but an opportunity for all children to learn about the joys of service by giving to the hospital's patients.

"It was our hospital," said Beulah Christiansen, of Centerville. "We felt like we owned it."

Christiansen recalls how exciting it was to take her annual birthday pennies to a Primary meeting, one penny for each year of her age. Each week, children on the "unbirthday" roster also had the opportunity to slip a coin into the "Primary Children's bank," often a replica of the hospital made of cardboard or wood.

In many ward Primaries, children sang "The Penny Song" as they marched past the bank.

Later, when Christiansen was an adult and president of her ward's Primary, she and other leaders canvassed the neighborhood for "Pennies by the Inch," a drive that encouraged donors to "stand tall" and give a penny (or more) for each inch.

When she knocked at one door, the resident was on the telephone and couldn't respond at the moment, she said. He called the hospital later to see who had come calling. "All he could remember to describe me by was my earrings," Christiansen said.

It was enough. She was contacted, returned to the home and accepted the gentleman's donation.

In 1975, the church divested itself of its group of hospitals, and Primary Children's became part of the newly organized Intermountain Health Care system. The intimate tie that Primary children had with the hospital eroded over time, but the giving has never stopped. Latter-day Saints who grew up with the tradition of sharing continue to make donations.

Children also continue to do their part. Sharon Goodrich, director of the Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation, said an envelope reached her office recently from a little girl who had enclosed 7 cents and five bandages "for the hurt children."