Angels In Our Midst (Trouts)


Since 1922, Shriners' Hospitals have provided free care for almost 800-thousand children.

This includes transportation, lodging and food for parents, and the most advanced medical care available.

They treat children who are crippled, burned, have cleft palets or other deformities.

A retired Marine aviator and his wife are an example of why the Shriners can afford this kind of compassion.

We donated a van to them and then they said, well, now you've got to drive it.

For about seven years, Jim And Doris Trout made the round trips transporting children to the Shriner's Hospital In Tampa; children like two year old twins Madelyn And Sophia O'neal.

Stacey O'Neal, Twins' mom; Sophia and Madelyn both have short femors.

Sophia has one that's a lot shorter than the other; then Sophia has a club foot.

Arngie Pope, Hadji Shrine Past Potentate; We accepted 28-thousand children last year into our 22 hospitals.

Mom; I didn't know where to go; what to do.

Without them, I don't know, we would have been stuck.


Milton McNease; Hadji Shrine Potentate; These kids are taken and they're treated til they're 18 years of age...with no cost to the parents.


The images of all the children stayed with them. One little girl in particular sticks in Jim's mind.

Jim Trout, The Children's Angel; She was the one who was born without a face and they replaced, and built her up to a beautiful little girl.

Doris Trout; The Children's Angel; We've seen it, we've seen it happen; miracles, miracles.

The Trouts know all about miracles.

Trouts; She was crippled as a child. She had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatic fever, an enlarged heart.

I was not supposed to live past seven years old. So, the Lord had other plans.

They feel part of that plan was for them to pass on the blessings. The Trouts, who have no children of their own, recently donated 800-thousand dollars to the Shriners' Hospital.

Trouts: God has been so good to us. We've been every place we've wanted to go; around the world to both poles, 84 foreign countries.

The humble couple's legacy may well be in launching the journeys of thousands of children. To paraphrase the Shriners' motto; No man, *or woman*, ever stood so tall as when they stooped to help a child.

Angels In Our Midst (Trouts)