CITY MISSION SPENDS £3,400 ON RELIEF

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 334, 20 April 1928, Page 13

CITY MISSION SPENDS £3,400 ON RELIEF

GOOD YEAR'S WORK During the past year the Auckland City Mission has spent £3,433 10s 6d on relief work. This represents the cost of 110,000 soup meals, 13,952 free beds in the doss house, 3,400 parcels of clothing and 4,096 food orders. The work which has now assumed such gigantic proportions has only been in progress for eight years, said the missioner. the Rev. Jasper Calder, at the annual meeting last evening. Another doss house will not be established next year, as one will not be required in Auckland again under the scheme being arranged by the Minister of Justice. The .plans for a half-way house may have to be altered completely. The income of the missibn for the past 10 months was £5,835 10s sd. made up chiefly from shop takings (£2,166) and proceeds of the Winter Fair (£671). Donations, although in themselves a large sum, would be insufficient to do half the work of the mission. Over £425 was raised by Jaspers Ltd.. There is a credit balance of £1,040 16s 6d. The activities of the mission have included Sunday evening services both in church and in the Hippodrome Theatre, prison and yachting services, a Christmas Camp, and the issue of a small paper, "The Drifter.” Mr. Calder referred to the apathy of wealthy members of the public toward the needs of charity, saying he considered it an appalling thing that so many people leave estates running into thousands of pounds without bequeathing a penny to charity. The City Mission has never received, a legacy, though it is expected that one of £2OO will be paid over soon. A tribute was paid to his assistant, Mr. Chandler, the deaconess, Sister Pat, and the staff- of voluntary helpers who have done such valuable work. The executive and sidesmen were reelected and Mr. W. Mandfield elected as additional sidesman.

A new carved oak lectern, the work of Mr. A. J. Norman, foreman of the men’s guild, was dedicated in the chapel of St. Francis by Canon Grant Cowen prior to the meeting. Mr. Norman’s infant daughter, the first child to be baptised in the mission chapel, unveiled the lectern.