Grants from the Arthur O. and Clara M. Schlegel Memorial Fund for Deformed Children of Berks County

Administered by Berks County Community Foundation


The Arthur O. and Clara M. Schlegel Memorial Fund for Deformed Children of Berks County was established by bequest at the time of Mrs. Schlegel's death in April 1988. The Schlegels established the fund to help Berks County children who are physically disfigured pay for medical care.

To qualify for support from the trust, an applicant must be a resident of Berks County under age 18, who suffers from a congenital or acquired condition that creates a permanent structural or superficial deviation resulting in disfigurement. The child's family must be unable to pay for the costs of the required treatments. Covered expenses may include both direct and indirect medical expenses, including those that would allow a family to travel for treatment, or other necessary, but ancillary expenses.

For example, the following children have received grants from the fund:

  • A 13-year-old boy was fitted with a flexible leg prosthesis, which allows him to fully participate in the same physical activities as other children his age. Until the grant was made, the boy used a stiff leg prosthesis provided by the state, which prohibited him from taking part in many activities, such as playing basketball or riding a bike.

  • The family of a three-year-old boy received a grant to begin treating and correcting his eyes, which were affected by amblypia and esotropia. Amblyopia, also known as "lazy eye," most often results from either a misalignment of the child's eyes, such as crossed eyes, or a difference in image quality between the two eyes. Esotropia is a type of strabismus, which is a visual defect where the eyes are misaligned and point in different directions.
  • A four-year-old girl with thoracic level myelomeningocele (commonly referred to as spina bifida) received a mobile stander. The child's doctor believed that a mobile stander would contribute to her treatment by decreasing the risk of pathologic fractures, disuse osteopenia, soft tissue and joint contractures and by reducing the formation of kidney stones. The added mobility also had positive psychological value for the young girl.
  • A nine-year-old girl with spinal muscular atrophy, type II, received grants to assist in the cost to lease a properly modified van with a pneumatic or motorized wheelchair lift, which is designed to prevent physical injury during routine transportation. In addition, the girl's family received a grant to install a stair lift, thereby relieving the girl's mother from carrying her up and down the narrow stairs. The Schlegel Fund also provided a grant for a flotation airbed to prevent bedsores. Before the grant was made, the girl's mother slept with her so she could turn her several times during the night.

You can download a grant application for the Schlegel fund now. To learn more contact Rick Mappin via email at richardm@bccf.org or by phone at 610.685.2223.