100 Neediest Cases
Encyclopedia
The 100 Neediest Cases is an annual charitable campaign jointly sponsored by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
and the local chapter of the United Way. The campaign selects 100 families and individuals that are profiled in the Post-Dispatch during November and December. Local students participate in contests for the selection of companion illustrations in the profiles. The sponsoring organizations and other charities absorb the administrative cost. Local organizations adopt individual cases, donating food, medications, household necessities, and holiday presents for the 100 beneficiaries of the campaign.
The campaign also facilitates the adoption by local organizations of about 1,200 additional cases that are not featured in the newspaper. This is about ten percent of the annual total of meritorious cases that are identified and compiled by local social service agencies.
The campaign began in 1922. The Post-Dispatch began profiling the "100 neediest" cases in the mid-1950s and the name was born. The name parallels similar campaigns in other cities, such as the "neediest cases" campaign sponsored by The New York Times
every holiday season.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
and the local chapter of the United Way. The campaign selects 100 families and individuals that are profiled in the Post-Dispatch during November and December. Local students participate in contests for the selection of companion illustrations in the profiles. The sponsoring organizations and other charities absorb the administrative cost. Local organizations adopt individual cases, donating food, medications, household necessities, and holiday presents for the 100 beneficiaries of the campaign.
The campaign also facilitates the adoption by local organizations of about 1,200 additional cases that are not featured in the newspaper. This is about ten percent of the annual total of meritorious cases that are identified and compiled by local social service agencies.
The campaign began in 1922. The Post-Dispatch began profiling the "100 neediest" cases in the mid-1950s and the name was born. The name parallels similar campaigns in other cities, such as the "neediest cases" campaign sponsored by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
every holiday season.