A CLOSING APPEAL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1275, 14 March 1918, Page 4

A CLOSING APPEAL.

To the Editor of THE SUN. Sir, —The campaign for collecting funds to carry on the noble and humane work of the Y.M.C.A. is rapidly drawing to a close. It seems to me a very real and direct way of sending help and comfort to all the dear sons of the Empire who are fighting our battles. Cut off as we are in New Zealand, and debarred from getting right into war work, we naturally become passive and settle down to calm satisfaction that real work is impossible at such a distance—and so conscience is salved. The call for funds to carry on the Y.M.C.A. work is as a pistol shot to wake us from lethargy. It is to be hoped that every man and woman •will respond, whether canvassed by the Y.M.C.A. collectors or not. The voluntary gift is the real one. If the imagination is turned to our lads—to all they so bravely endure from the moment of the eruption of their lives, when they enlist, to the misery of trench life and fighting through all weathers, to the day when they are badly wounded or make the supreme sacrifice —surely, from the smugness of our home life here we will put our hands into our pockets and give liberally and gladly. Here money seems a feeble enough way of saying "thank you" for all the blood and suffering that has been spent for us. It is to be hoped that to-night and on Friday each householder and inmate will quietly place a sum of money in an envelope and see that it reaches the secretary, Mr A. Stedman, Bank of New South Wales. 197 Hereford Street. Our hearts have bled in sympathy for all that our dear ones have endured, and this is a glorious chance for us to express our love and gratitude in a practical way. Give something to soothe the pain of a wounded lad. Give until it hurts. —I am, etc., A SISTER TO FIVE SOLDIERS.