Food shipment for Vietnam ready

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33814, 10 April 1975, Page 2

Food shipment for Vietnam ready

Two tons and a half of concentrated protein food will be sent from Christchurch for relief in Vietnam.

The North Canterbury Save the Children Fund gave one ton of textured vegetable protein, and one ton of wheat protein. T. J. Edmonds, in Ferry Road, has given a half a ton of vegetable protein.

The food will be flown to Vietnam as soon as transport can be arranged. The New Zealand Government has promised to give priority to this.

The president of the North Canterbury S.C.F. (Mrs B. Pearson) said yesterday that a national appeal had been launched by the fund to carry on the type of work it had been doing for years in Vietnam.

“Last year we sent $60,000 to Vietnam, and we want to send more than that this year,” she said. It was disappointing that throughout the present crisis in Vietnam, the publicity had been mostly about the emotional issue of orphans, and little attention had been given to the supply of relief in the form of money and goods, said Mrs Pearson. “S.C.F. teams, which include a New Zealand nurse, have been evacuated from Oui Nhon and Hue, and are still working in Saigon, according to a report just received. S.C.F. officials are at present negotiating through the International Committee of the Red Cross to be allowed to continue their work in these areas,” she said.

The other two funds for Vietnam in Christchurch, started last week by the district Red Cross office and CORSO, are slowly growing. The CORSO appeal now stands at $1406, after receiving $617 yesterday, mostly in small donations.

The Red Cross fund is $340. It was given a small but thoughtful boost on Tuesday by four small girls who gave their week’s pocket money for relief work. CORSO fund CORSO’s Indo-China emergency fund had received almost $20,000 in contributions, the national director of CORSO (Mr A. J. Todd) said in a statement in Wellington today. He said the flow of contributions from individuals was increasing. “Some are being given at great personal sacrifice,” said Mr Todd. “For instance, an anonymous Maori family from the eastern Bay of Plenty have given $l4O, almost all their life savings.”

CORSO is also co-ordinat-ing the combined churches’ donations to the emergency fund.

In a joint statement issued today New Zealand’s church leaders said that a special collection would be made in April at churches throughout the country. The Presbyterian Church is making an immediate grant of $3OOO for relief and reconstruction in Indo-China. The convener of the church’s international relations committee (the Rev. J. S. Thomson) said that $lOOO would be for immediate relief. The rest Would be part of the church’s continuing aid for reconstruction.

Govt pledge

Requests from responsible international agencies for aid for Indo-China which were within New Zealand’s capacity would be met, the Prime Minister (Mr Rowling) said today. “The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and U.N.I.C.E.F. have made a joint approach for assistance in the form of money, food, and medical supplies,” he said in a statement. The Government also had a request from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“Both these requests are being given urgent consideration,” Mr Rowling said. “I hope to announce New Zealand’s contribution shortly. All we have been seeking has been positive requests from such responsible international organisations before making available whatever wr can.” “New Zealand could ensure that its aid would be channelled to the areas most affected by working through these non-political international organisations, he said.