FESTIVE SEASON

Southland Times, Issue 21896, 23 December 1932, Page 6

FESTIVE SEASON

LOCAL CELEBRATIONS DISPENSING' CHRISTMAS CHEER WILLING HELPERS Christmas is pre-eminently an occasion not alone for giving but for helping others. Each festive season local organizations make special endeavours to dispense good cheer and this year they are again rendering yeoman service. So willingly and ungrudgingly are one and all working that even to the drabest home the spirit of Christmas cannot fail to penetrate. To facilitate distribution of Christmas cheer the Central Relief Depot in Yarrow street was open yesterday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Within that time the wants of 280 families were attended to. The organization had been very thorough and the food had previously been packed in readiness for the rush of work which began yesterday.' The staff of voluntary helpers worked willingly and well in serving the continuous stream of applicants, and no hitch of any kind occurred. Letters of appreciation which have been coming to hand from grateful relief workers and their wives have been a great encouragement to the staff in its work. The depot will be open to-day from 9 to 12 also. Yesterday 50 carcasses of mutton were cut up and distributed among the 280 families. In addition each family received a plum pudding, tea, groceries and condensed milk. The mutton was supplied by the Labour Department, and the depot officials also acknowledge with thanks a donation of four carcasses received from Mr James Grenville. , Further contributions to the Mayor’s Christmas Cheer Fund are acknowledged from Messrs R. G. Speirs (£4); Reginald MacKinnon Trust (£1); Messrs Featherstone, Adamson and Francis (£1 11/6) and “E. S.” (10/-). R.S.A. Activities. Noted for the manner in which it looks after the welfare of returned men all the year round, the Invercargill Returned Soldiers’ Association is very active at the present time providing Christmas cheer for all members on its unemployment register. In past years members have'called upon these homes bearing with them Christmas comforts, but this year the task has been made much greater on account of the widespread unemployment. The difficult position has been accentuated, too, because the Southland War Funds Association has found it necessary to reduce its usual grant to the R.S.A. by one-half. Nevertheless the association is doing everything possible arid is providing Christmas cheer in the form of three large tins of fruit (supplied at a reduced price by Messrs Kirkpatrick and Company, Limited, of Nelson) to each of 200 members. Distribution is pow being made at the club rooms in Tav street. The association, besides looking after its city members in this way, is forwarding a sum of £1 to each of the Southland sub-associations for a similar purpose. The Salvation Army. The good work done in Invercargill and elsewhere by the Salvation Army is so well known that it scarcely needs recapitulation here. Unostentatiously all the year round the Army lends a sympathetic ear and willing hand to the struggling poor and now that the Christmas season has once more arrived it is unceasing in its endeavours to promote peace on earth and goodwill to man. Just as was the case last year, the local officers have been busy making up parcels for distribution to people in needy circumstances. In the compilation of these meat, sugar, flour, oatmeal, biscuits, butter, tea and condensed milk are being extensively used. Parcels of clothing are also being prepared for certain families in the city not receiving relief from other quarters. This year for the first time a number of residents are feeling the stress of the hard times and the Army is endeavouring to assist these as well as the poor people under its care at all times. Recognizing the valuable work undertaken by the Army, local business men have been liberal in their donations to its cause. Butter has been supplied by New Zealand Milk Products, Limited, flour and oatmeal by Fleming and Company, goods by Stott’s Bakery and meat by Messrs Holland, Hannon, Metcalfe, Winders and the Mutual Benefit Butchery. The Army is also purchasing biscuits, plum puddings and Christmas cake, the last-named for the benefit of the very old people who in this way are receiving a practical reminder that they are not being forgotten at the festive season. The Army this year received no grants from any source, being dependent to a great extent on these voluntary contributions from local business people, and to these the Adjutant desires to express her sincere thanks. As a result of this generous support the Army was in a position of assisting all deserving cac-es during the year now drawing to a close. A true Christmas touch is being lent by the Army Band, which for the last few evenings has been out carolling. On Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning it will also play appropriate selections and the inmates of the Public Hospital will not be forgotten in this respect. The band also proposes visiting the Borstal on Christmas afternoon. At the Hospitals. The method adopted by the Southland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board of providing Christmas cheer for its dependents is to issue additional orders for varying amounts. Foodstuffs are stipulated, as in past years frivolous use has been made of the orders in some cases. This week over 75 additional orders are being sent out with the usual grocery orders to enable individuals and families to buy a little extra in the way of Christmas delicacies. To prevent overlapping of the work of other relief organizations the 'board is issuing these orders only to its dependents and not to the men engaged on its relief works. Christmas festivities at the Southland Hospital began in earnest yesterday when Cousin Betty and Her Little Southlanders paid their annual visit to the various wards which had been artistically decorated by the nurses with greenery and coloured paper. In every ward there was a Christmas tree and the distribution of the presents with which each was laden was responsible for the spread of the festive spirit to patients young and old. In accordance with usual custom the lights will be extinguished at the hospital at ten o’clock on Christmas Eve to permit the nurses to sing carols by candlelight. There is something infinitely beautiful about this event as to make it eagerly looked forward to by the patients. The following day a typical Christinas dinner will be served. Active preparations are also under way at Kew and the Lotne Infirmary where chief consideration is to make the festive season an exceedingly happy one for the elderly people. Work of Rotary Club.

As the result of the activities of the Invercargill Rotary Club, Christmas will be made much brighter in many homes. Although to the outside public little is known of the club’s charitable work, many local institutions have every reason to be graMul to the

movement which studies service before self. Donations have been given by the club to Sister Alice, who is in charge of the Invercargill Home Mission, the Salvation Army and the Borstal Institution.

The blind friends of the Rotarians have not been forgotten and a pleasing feature is that each will be provided with a Christmas cake, iced with the initials of the recipient. In this way a striking personal touch considerably enhances the value of the gift. Motherless and fatherless children are not being forgotten and already at the Gladstone and Cameron Homes Christmas trees have made their appearance, much to the unrestrained delight of the children. To-morrow evening dear old Santa Claus will be faced with a formidable array of stockings to fill and on Christmas Day a fulsome dinner and high tea will worthily commemorate the occasion from the point of view of youthful appetites. Arrangements have also been made for the singing of carols at the homes. The inmates of Victoria Home have also enjoyed their Christmas treats.

At the Borstal Institution an energetic committee of ladies headed by Mrs R. Henderson has been working hard to make the inmates happy. In this respect generous friends of the institution have lent considerable and much appreciated assistance.