RELIEF DEPOT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1932, Page 11

RELIEF DEPOT.

WORK IN CHRISTCHURCH. Mrs. A. E. Fraer, of Christclurch, who is well known in Auckland in connection with the work of the National Council of Women, is facing the unemployment problem in a very practical manner. Mrs. Fraer's depot, which during the winter dealt with an average of 300 cases weekly, now deals with an average of 310. A large proportion of the winter people are still coming to her for relief, and new applicants appear each week. Some have been able to find work in the country, but more and more are being put off from jobs in town. Mrs. Fraer's depot is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and each day has its particular clients. A card system has been adopted, and each applicant for rations must produce a card before a supply is given out. With the system there is no possibility of giving more than his fair share to any applicant. Mrs. Fraer pins her faith to oatmeal. "As long as they have oatmeal they cannot starve," she says, and unless the applicant will take an issue of oatmeal, no other groceries will be given. Curiously enough, she finds that a large number of people do not want to take oatmeal. They do not like it. But Mrs. Fraer, thinking of the healthy nourishment there is for children in oatmeal and golden syrup, insists that some be taken. All sorts of people come in, from the man who demands to be given meat, and plenty of meat, to the man who is thankful for anything that can be done for him. A question asked of all is "Have you got a garden?" If the applicant has one, no vegetables are given. A number volunteer the information that they have vegetables, and do not in this particular need the help of the depot. "I don't need rice. We still have some left, but could you give me a candle. The light has been cut off," said one man. He was elderly, and past pick and shovel work. His wife explained quietly to Mrs. Fraer that he had missed a job in the country, and was desperate. He had had no work since October, and had none from the Labour Department. "Would you please mention my case at the next meeting of the committee,'' he asked Mrs. Fraer. The difficulties of the people conducting depots do not stop at finding groceries and vegetables for the people they help. A number of the women cannot cook, and some cannot sew. "It is a sad comment on our educational system that girls leave school without knowing these two essentials," Mrs. Fraer remarked. The depots do not attempt to do more than keep people from actual starvation. They do not attempt to issue a full ration, because too many of the unemployed would cease looking for work. Through the activities of the depots, there has been no starvation in the city, although many homes have felt the misery of living next door to it.