CHARITY "DRIVE"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22481, 27 July 1936, Page 11

CHARITY "DRIVE"

EXCELLENT RESPONSE ABOUT £4OO COLLECTED WIDE VARIETY OF ARTICLES The diversity suggested by a radio set, a pair of crutches and a pot of jam is indicative of the wide assortment of goods obtained in the Auckland Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association charity "drive" on Saturday. The "drive" met with an excellent response, and, besides large quantities of cloth»s, books, toys and provisions, about £4OO in cash was collected. The amount of goods and money will be increased to-day when the proceeds of collections on the North Shore and in several outlying areas are received.

To facilitate the collection the city and suburbs were divided into 44 districts, in each of which a depot motorlorry or van and several motor-cars operated. Lorries and drivers were provided by various city firms and worked with the assistance of about 150 members of the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association. Between 300 and 400 Boy Scouts also Mere employed, the majority being engaged on the 300 privately owned and driven motor-cars. Poor Help the Poor Beginning at S a.m. and working until shortly after noon, the collectors thoroughly combed practically over-y street, the cars making frequent trips to and from the lorries, which, in turn, took their loads to the main depot on Central Wharf. People gave generously, in goods and in money. "It was surprising," said one collector, "how many 10s notes were slipped into the boxes." In poorer districts the response of many families was praiseworthy. In spite of their obviously straitened circumstances, they endeavoured to make some little sacrifice in an effort to assist those whose lot they believed to be even worse than their own. On more than one occasion a collector, realising the spirit in which such gifts were offered, dipped hi to his pocket, and left a monetary contribution of his own. Many workers, provided by the Metropolitan Unemployment Relief Committee, the Mayoress' Book Fund Committee, the Auckland Hospital Auxiliary, and other institutions, spent a busy morning at the central depot sorting the goods as they were delivered. Their task was enormous. Along the floor of tho large wharf shed were strewn thousands of articles of apparel and hundreds of pairs of boots and shoes. There were dress suits and dungarees, silk stockings and slippers, sheets, blankets, scarves and leather belts. Hats and caps were gathered by the score, and there were ties and evening gowns, underwear and overcoats, bathing suits, furs and women's handkerchiefs. Distribution System Apart from apparel, however, an amazingly odd collection was assembled. A pair of crutches dwarfed several pots of jam and jelly, dolls came in with vegetable marrows, and gramophone records were mixed with wireless sets, suitcases, perambulators, rockinghorses, and a wide variety of toys. Books, magazines, and newspapers of all nations and ages were gathered. There were tomes on politics and the remote sciences, manuals on English grammar, hymn books, detective and Western novels, collections of verse and comic papers.

Further sorting will be carried out to-day. The clothes will be distributed by the Unemployment Relief Committee, books and papers will be handed to the Hospital Auxiliary, and part of the money will go to augment tho funds of the Boy Scouts, the remainder being for charitable purposes. Responsible for the organisation of the drive were the president. Mr. J. Taylor, the past president, Mr. A. H. Prentice, and the secretary, Mr. H. Aekins, of the Commercial Travellers and Warehousemen's Association, and Miss Barton, of the-association's staff.