June Robbins, Everyday Inspiration, Co-Founded Humor Cart at Children's Hospital

Everyday Inspirations is a series that features people in Patch communities who inspire others through their work, or people who have faced extraordinary situations and grown from them. They have been featured by other people in the community that have been inspired by the nominees.

Name: June Robbins
Town: Broomall, PA
Nominated by: Gloria Joffe

Why is this person an "Everyday Inspiration?" 
June started life in poverty during the Great Depression, and often had to move in with various relatives. A bright girl, she did well at school and became editor of her school paper. She met her husband-to-be, Melvin Robbins, when she was 15 and he was 17. He enlisted in the Navy during WWII.

She needed to find a job to help her now-single mom, who was working in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She realized she would need training, so she managed to convince a drafting teacher to admit her as the first and only girl in the class, to give her the education to work at the Shipyard, too.

In addition to working, June volunteered for the War effort through the Red Cross and the USO. She and Mel married a couple of years after the war's end. She worked as a hairdresser, and helped Mel start his business as a store owner. They started their family of seven children. By then, June was a full-time homemaker, participating in her children's activities in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, the PTA, Hebrew school and many others.

When she had her first child, she joined B'nai Brith Women, becoming a Life Member, to fulfill the Jewish ideal of "Tikun Olam," to "Repair the World." Participating and helming projects such as Vials for Life to protect the elderly in their homes, Dolls for Democracy which helped schoolchildren understand diversity through dolls of famous historical figures, and a home for troubled youth in Israel, she devoted as much time as she could, while raising her family.

As the last of her children were leaving the (Robbins) nest, June started to explore the next phase of her life. After living in Israel with her family for a year, and coming back to her home in the U.S., she returned there to volunteer on an archeological dig of Roman artifacts in Beit Shean. She learned to ride a motorcycle from several of her sons, and used this as a primary mode of transportation for several years.

She was elected Judge of Elections in Marple Township, and served for over 20 years. On Christmas Day, she joined others, volunteering at boarding homes.

June became interested in belly dancing, when a friend of hers asked her to come to a class for what she thought was "ballet" dancing! She fell in love with the grace and fluidity of the dance, not to mention the fact that she found herself losing weight with little effort whenever she practiced! She was also pleased that real belly dancers come in all shapes and sizes, and that having a belly is considered desirable. June used this skill as her talent, when she entered the Ms. Senior Pennsylvania Pageant (1995) on a dare (by her daughter), and won the crown. Although there were other very talented women competing, she was just there to have a great time, win or lose, and it showed in her enthusiasm! She briefly became a pageant director, after that.

June began to find her true calling when she co-founded the Humor Cart program at Children's Hospital, going to the clinics there every Wednesday for over a dozen years, interjected levity for worried patients and families as they waited for procedures and tests, through comedic videos, props, magic tricks, stickers, and coloring pages. She also did public speaking on "humorology" to groups in the community.

Then June discovered the real art of clowning! She decided to sign up for a 10-week clown class through the RSVP Program, and, upon graduation, became an enthusiastic volunteer, immersing herself in the craft with a professional outlook. With her costumes, big shoes, wigs, red nose, and face paint, she took her props to any and all gigs she could sign up for, from veterans' hospitals to the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Day celebrations, and continued her education in weeks of hospital clowning classes and at clown conventions.

She is a member of Tall Cedars, through the Masons. She is a member and past president of Spiffy's Gang, a clown troop, and is a member of RSVP, teaching others the art of clowning. She won 1st Place for her “Hungry Hobo” singles skit at the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Clown Association (MACA) convention in Harrisburg.

June was married to Melvin for over 65 years, and the couple was voted “Cutest Couple in Marple-Newtown” by the readers of the Marple-Newtown Patch, in February 2013, with a follow-up article on their life together, on Valentine’s Day. She lost her beloved Melvin in August 2013. She has seven children, 18 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

June has been recognized for her charitable works, her energy and her enthusiasm, with awards by: The Chapel of the Four Chaplains; The Charming Shoppes "Voices" Campaign for volunteers; Philadelphia Senior Center's "Art of Living Award;" Delco RSVP Program; Delaware County Women's Commission's "Woman of Achievement 2010"; President of several B'nai Brith Women's Chapters and "Woman of the Year" of Ruth Marks Magilner Chapter, as well as Regional Vice President.

She is a life member of the Rosie the Riveter Association for her service in WWII. She was chosen as a "Huggins' Hero" by NBC 10's Edie Huggins for her work as a volunteer. June (along with Melvin) has competed at the Delco Senior Games for several years, and won several medals each year in her chosen sports (miniature golf, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and Wii bowling). She was interviewed by NPR and WHYY.org “Coming of Age” for her work as a clown.

Recently, she has returned to a sport she learned as a teen: Shooting, and has gone to the local range with her sons. She has been dubbed “Calamity June,” and shoots with great accuracy, using several different weapons.

Most of all, she has set an example for those who think that people of a "certain age" are not capable of doing, of being, of having fun, of accomplishing things, of making people happy, of finding fulfillment, of giving of themselves to others. As a social worker for clients over the age of 60, through an Area Agency on Aging. I can say to those 60 year olds who say, "I'm too old," to do anything new, that, there are those who DO try new things, and that they can, too! I proudly tell them about an 87-year-old clown I know!

Has the nominee's life been changed in an extraordinary way? 

June's life changed when she discovered her natural sense of humor could be useful in making others feel at ease while waiting for medical procedures at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia in the Humor Cart program she helped found, reducing their stress and anxiety.

 Years later she was made the trasition into full-fledged clowning, taking her fun and her talents to children and adults alike at Martin Luther King Day celebrations, street fairs, charity fundraisers, and church and synagogue bazaars. It gives her just as much joy to give the gift of laughter as it seems to provide for others to receive it!

How does this person work to make others' lives better?

June makes people smile and brings joy into their lives!