AIDING THE NEEDY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 304, 23 December 1944, Page 6

AIDING THE NEEDY

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

ORGANISATIONS AT WORK

The "Christmas spirit" of Auckland does not rest only in a crowdjammed Queen Street, and busy shops. It is conveyed, through the generosity of publicly subscribed funds and private purses, into private homes where there is. need, and into institutions of all sorts. It was conveyed this morning over a telephone by the voice of a Little Sister of the Poor,, speaking of the Christmas arrangements at ' their Ponsonby home for aged people. Shy and chuckling, it told of kitchen activity in the making .of good things," of the "little family gathering" there would be for their old people, the singing of carols. It will start with midnight Mass in the chapel, and then Wine and biscuits for the inmates before they go to. bed. : "There will be a 'little something for them at breakfast," she said, "and then at 9 o'clock Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Cox will be here with presents of sweets for the' old people from the Auckland Freemasons. They have done that every year for some year's. Later we will distribute presents that we have been able to get. through the goodness of our kind benefactors —ties, cigarettes and tobacco for the men, and sweets, toilet soap and scent for the old ladies. And then we will have a big dinner. Afterwards there is a concert arranged just among ourselves. There are two pianos, and some of our old people have been musicians. We'll have a little music." - There are many organisations m the city concerned at Christmas with acts of charity and kindness —• big and .small. The visit of Mr. Cox, referred to by the Little Sisters, is part of a city-wide distribution of sweets, provided by the Auckland Freemasons' Christmas gift fund for aged people. Members of the organisation visit, all institutions where old people are provided for, without distinction. .•."■* Parties and Pictures

A good deal of this type of activity has been in progress during the past fortnight, with Christmas tree parties for children. Recently 500 children were entertained at such a party by the Auckland Rotary Club in conjunction with a big city firm, Auckland picture theatres, too, are contributing. Invitations have been sent to the various orphanages by a number of the theatres, who are willing to give seats to parties- of orphanage children at any nominated session during the Christmas season. Similarly busy with various work expressive of the Christmas spirit have been and will be the City Mission. the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Salvation Army Samaritan office, the Presbyterian Social Service Association, the Methodist Central Mission, the various missions to sailors, the Metropolitan City Relief, and a number of other organisations and institutions. Government assistance, too, comes into the picture. People who have been receiving permanent assistance from the Outdoor Relief Committee of the Auckland Hospital Board— a comparatively few in these days of Social Security. pensions—have been , granted their usual meat and milk orders and their rent allowances and, in addition, the Government, has granted them a Christmas gratuity: of £1 for each adult and 5/ for each child. The Hospital Board has also granted £60 for the provision of extra comforts for patients in hospitals who have no relatives or others to care for them at this time. The Rev. Jasper Calder's City Mission, like some others, has a wide programme". Already 300 children have been entertained at a Christmas tree, and 300 parcels and orders for old age and invalidity pensioners have been distributed. Then there is the children's camp at Oneroa, equipped now, through a generous donor, with a big refrigerator. On Wednesday next, this camp will receive 70 children, who might not otherwise be able to enjoy a beach holiday. They will be entertained for 38 days, and then another party of 70 will enter the camp. "If sufficient funds are available," says Mr. Calder, "a third party will then b>e taken to the camp." The Salvation Army has already conducted parties for old ladies, and for children, and 50 parcels have been distributed to needy families. Toys, too, have been distributed to houses of need and sickness. An unusual, but regular activity, of the Army will be the provision of a high tea to female prisoners in the Auckland prison—ham and lettuce, salad, cakes, jellies, Spanish cream, sweets and soft drinks. Presents of soap will also be distributed. From the Methodist City Mission assistance has been distributed to about 300 old age pensioners, toys distributed to about 200 children at a Christmas party, and sent to the homes of 60 other children who live in outlying districts.

Christmas Treat Parcels "The parcels continued special Christmas treats," said the Rev. A. Averill Orr. "It's not like the days of the depression, you know. These are intended as extras for people whose pockets will not run to anything more than bare necessities." Block cakes and sweets have also been sent to the prison. The mission's heaith camp at Campbell's Bay will be in full session this week-end, and 200 children will be given two weeks' holiday each. The highlight there to-morrow night will be a visit from Santa Claus, "in person," with the usual accessories. Through funds from art unions, the Metropolitan City Relief has distributed between 200 and 300 grocery orders for 10/ each and bags of coal. One hundred and fifty parcels of groceries, valued at 10/ or 15/, according to the size of the family, have been distributed by the Presbyterian Social Service Association, to people who have been getting regular assistance from their funds during the year. The association is also providing a special breakfast to 60 or 70 men at the Edinburgh Street Hall on Christmas morning, and tickets for 2200 meals have also been distributed to 550 other men, who have been regularly assisted in this way. Other organisations are visiting, the sick, providing entertainment for servicemen and others away from their homes, and in other ways endeavouring to carry the Christmas spirit over as wide a field as possible.