Today the Le Bonheur Club is a vibrant, diverse and enthusiastic group of dedicated women. Our membership includes women from the four corners of the Mid-south with various backgrounds and occupations.   The common thread among us is Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.   It is our unifying cause. The origins of Le Bonheur Club are humble and gracious.

In January of 1923, at the suggestion of Mrs. Allen Lacey and Mrs. Leslie Stratton, a small group of young women met to form an organization for the purpose of caring for the underprivileged children of Leath Orphanage.   Officers were elected and the name Le Bonheur (Hour of Happiness), suggested by Elizabeth Jordan, Mrs. Frank Gilliland, was chosen.Sewing for the orphanage was the first project.

Thus began the legacy of service that the club has continued through the last 87 years.   For many years, needy children were given special attention, provided wheelchairs and other medical necessities.   It became apparent to the Le Bonheur Club members that they could help more children by raising funds in the community.   The thread of charitable giving became intertwined with the thread of service to children.   It has been a strong bond that continues to connect Memphis and the surrounding communities.

Le Bonheur Club became a leader of fundraising during the decades of the 1930’s and 1940’s.   From Christmas House Lighting contests, Tennis Tournaments, and The Doll House, to Horse Shows and U.S.O. dances the ladies of Le Bonheur could inspire the giver to be generous for the cause of children.   But once again, the ladies felt more could be done.   The dream of a children’s hospital was born in 1944.

Never ones to shy away from a challenge, the club began the planning and fundraising began in earnest.   It would take the whole community to build a hospital solely dedicated to children.   In just six short years, the doors to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital were forever opened, never to be closed to a needy child.   That was 1952, and the club had a place to provide direct service to the children and families in need.  Elevators were manned, coffee was served, hospital gowns were sown. Anything to help the children.  

We pick back up the thread of charitable giving as we move through history and recount the birth of the Gold Tag Drive. Since 1962, this project has been the signature fundraiser of Le Bonheur Club.  Every year, club members call upon their friends and families to make donations to the hospital. The donors were given a “gold tag” for their vehicle. Even Elvis was one of our early supporters!   

The club has grown in numbers and influence through its endeavors at the hospital, and a natural outgrowth of that was the desire to do more.   A vision of a “clubhouse” for the children blossomed during a strategic planning session.   A clubhouse where a child or a parent could “escape” the reality of the hospital would become the hope of Le Bonheur Club.   We will see this latest gift to the children from Le Bonheur Club when the new Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital opens in the fall of 2010.