SICK AND WOUNDED

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 95, 22 April 1940, Page 9

SICK AND WOUNDED

HUMANITARIAN WORK

JOINT 4 APPEAL SHORTLY

Inventories of * large and varied quantities of Red Cross materials and comforts for sick and wounded soldiers made up since the commencement of the war were received at the fortnightly meeting of the Order of St. John and New Zealand Red Cross Society for the Wellington Province. A considerable amount of material remains in stock, and this is necessary, because the defence authorities frequently, and at very, short notice, require urgent supplies. Committees of women belonging to the Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John and also to many other women's organisations meet frequently to cut out and sew material for the soldiers. Quotas for the eleven districts into which New Zealand has been divided are sent out from •'•time to time by the National Patriotic Fund Board and there is a standard schedule for normal requirements for each echelon, and also for transports and for hospitals and Red Cross depots in Egypt. Large quantities of supplies have been necessary for the base hospital and convalescent hospital about to be' established with the troops. In addition, patients in camp hospitals in New Zealand are provided for over and above the provision made by the Defence Department. The joint committee also has visitors ■who go regularly to the hospitals and make personal contact with those in charge and with the patients. There are so many women workers available at short notice that it is not possible to provide Red Cross work for women in scattered districts, but they will be called upon if demands on the Red Cross organisation increase. CAMPAIGN FOR FUNDS. The joint committee is now directing its efforts towards making a success in the Wellington Province of the Sick, Wounded, and Distress Fund, otherwise, called the' Red Cross Appeal. The Red Cross Society and Order of St. John are the authorised agents of the National Patriotic Fund Board, being both collecting and distributing agents. All funds raised in the sick, wounded, and distress appeal will be paid into a special account of the National Patriotic Board and will be held in this fund and, if necessary, augmented until such time as there is no need for funds to be held for sick and wounded. Any funds over will be used for rehabilitation purposes. In no sense will these funds be controlled by the Government, for the National Patriotic Fund Board is a corporate body and is not under Government control. The Sick and Wounded Distress Fund appeal will be opened on May 12, Florence Nightingale's Day, and a sum of £250,000 is the goal. The Joint Council of the Order .of St. John and New. Zealand Red Cross Society and also the district' committees are holding conferences covering geographical groups for the purpose of devising ways and means of raising money. Already the V.M.C.A. and Salvation Army have collected money for another fund which is under the control of the National Patriotic Board, namely, the Fighting Services Welfare Fund for the comfort of soldiers who are not sick or wounded. The Sick, Wounded, and Distress Fund is to be for those soldiers who have been wounded or in any way injured in health as the result of their services. The Sick, Wounded, and Distress Fund will help to provide for their healing and well-being over and above what the Government can do during the war period and for many years after the war ends. Four finalists, representing the four centres, will bake their final apple pies on the stage in the assembly; hall, which will be fitted with electric stoves for the purpose. Lovers of band music are looking forward to the visit on Wednesday of the Kokatahi Band, a' musical combination from the West Coast and composed largely of miners. The band has cherished historical associations, and its early performances are closely allied with the progress of the mining industry there. Some of the instruments are highly valued, and the music they play includes some of the tunes which were played to the pioneer miners of' the district in the first days of settlement on the Coast. Friday is to! be Diggers' Day at t^ Exhibition, and visiting returned, soldiers who have taken part in the Anzac Day parade and many of whom are remaining in the city for the annual meeting of the Dominion Council of the N.Z.R.S.A. on May 1 will be shown the sights and' suitably entertained