DAFFODIL DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 208, 2 September 1932, Page 5

DAFFODIL DAY.

COMMUNITY APPEAL. EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL EFFORT. Flower stalls profuse with daffodils, anemones, freezias, ranunculus and Iceland poppies added a bright touch of seasonal colour to the city and some of the suburbs to-day. The Victoria League was making its annual appeal for funds for its own exchequer and those of kindred societies. Willing lady workers sought the sympathy of citizens for contributions, and ribbons pinned on hundreds of coats indicated that the public, despite all the appeals that are made to its generosity, were adding their mite to the collection boxes. It was noticeable that the response was more spontaneous after midday, when the pay envelope had no doubt been distributed. In to-day's appeal the Victoria League, which has a membership of 1400, was working in conjunction with the Navy League and the Society for the Protection of Women and Children. Boy Scouts assisted in the organisation of collecting flowers and erecting stalls, and the three societies are particularly grateful for their efforts. It is interesting to note that this is the eighteenth appeal that the Victoria League has made under the name of "Daffodil Day." The idea originated in 1915, when the cause was the supply of comforts to our soldiers at the front. The proceeds of several collections were devoted to the erection of the Statue of Peace at the top of Wakefield Street, and from 1920 onwards the funds from the collections have been distributed among a number of societies which work for the welfare of the young citizens. It was only natural that the first appeal met with a wholehearted response and the sum of £800 was collected in 1915. In successive years the response averaged about £500, though tlie drain on the public purse was evidenced last year when it was a couple of hundred pounds lees.