Born in England and trained in medicine, Grenfell gave 50 years of service to the people of northern Newfoundland and Labrador, and became a legend in his own time. He and those he inspired brought medical, spiritual and material aid to seasonal fishermen and coastal inhabitants. A critic of the conditions in which the fishermen lived, he campaigned vigorously to finance numerous humanitarian projects including the hospital here at St. Anthony. In 1912 the International Grenfell Association was founded to manage the diverse programs he had established and this organization continues the work he began.