The Public Service Committee is dedicated to contributing to the welfare of the Oklahoma City metro area communities by participating in local and state fundraising campaigns.  Each year OKCAHU works with the below charities to raise money and awareness for their respective missions.  The committee organizes fund raisers, toy drives, food drives and other activities throughout the year.   If you are interested in joining the committee or have any questions about our charities, please contact Keri Irvin at 405-945-1202 or krirvin@cvty.com.     The Children's Center The idea for the Children's Center was first developed in 1898 by Mattie Mallory, who under strong conviction, formed an orphanage to help underprivileged Oklahoma children.  For nearly 40 years the orphanage provided shelter and care. In the late 1930's the home redirected it's focus, and in response to the polio epidemic became a children's medical center.  E. Clay Venable was hired as the Executive Director for the facility in 1946, and from 1947-1968 he worked to improve the level of medical care available.  He officially changed the center into a hospital and joined both the Oklahoma and American Hospital Associations.   Over the years the center has become more focused on specific medical services for children, and provides a special continuum of care between hospital and home care.  Children from not only Oklahoma, but across the region now come to The Children's Center for high level pediatric care.  With a nurse to patient ratio of 1:4 the center is able to provide individual care for each patient and remarkably remains to contain the daily cost to an average of 1/7 of the typical acute hospital facility.   The Children's Center recently added a new intensive rehabilitation unit for children with severe head and spinal trauma.  The $4 million project broke ground in April 2005, and is now treating patient with a family-centered approach.  The facility provides all the amenities of home, allowing the patients and their families a comfortable place to stay while the children undergo the often times lengthy and extensive medical services.   For additional information please visit www.thechildrens-center.org or contact The Children's Center at 405-789-6711.   Citizens Caring for Children Citizens Caring for Children was formed in 1984 by George and Rose Harper as Citizens Concerned for Children.  The Harpers, as first-time foster parents, took in a severely malnourished six year old boy, who had been restrained by his family, sometimes for hours at a time.  As the years passed, the Harpers continued to open their home and their hearts and eventually helped 23 additional foster children.  The Harpers learned from their experience as foster parents, that our state run system cannot always meet the needs of Oklahoma’s foster children.  As a result, this organization was created.   Today, Citizens Caring for Children provides services to more than 3,000 of Oklahoma’s foster children on an annual basis.  It is through corporate and private support that this organization is able to make a difference in the lives of Oklahoma’s, sometimes forgotten, children. The mission of Citizens Caring for Children is to break the cycle of abuse and neglect for Oklahoma foster children by addressing their material, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs ... because every child deserves the chance for a better life.  The programs offered to Oklahoma’s foster children by Citizens Caring for Children include:  Mentoring, Resource Center, Shelter Birthday Parties, Back-to-School Campaign, and Santa Stop.   For additional information, please visit www.citizenscaringforchildren.org or contact Citizens Caring for Children at 405.348.9034.