Career
Her three children were the initial participants in the fund raising effort, which by the time of her death had brought in $160 million to be used for the benefit of needy children around the world. Born Mary Emma Woodruff in 1917, she earned her undergraduate degree at Wheaton College. After working as a school teacher, she majored in library science for her master"s degree and was employed as a librarian in a Chicago school.
As that effort was winding down, she attended a children"s costume parade in late 1949 and followed the children and a cow into Wanamaker"s (department store) in Center City (downtown) Philadelphia, where she saw a booth raising funds for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. The United States. Fund for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund took over the program on a formal basis starting in 1953, with children collecting money door-to-door in orange boxes designed for that purpose.
By the time of Allison"s death, the program had raised $160 million to benefit children in need. A resident of Lowell, Indiana, Allison died at her home there, aged 93, on October 27, 2010, days before the 60th anniversary of the fundraising program
