CENTRAL RELIEF SOCIETY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 19141, 24 March 1932, Page 6

CENTRAL RELIEF SOCIETY.

£3OO PER MONTH REQUIRED. In spite of more care, ill systems of rationing, and also in purchasing food and fuel supplies wholesale, the Management Committee of the Relief Society states that it will be impossible to carry on the work with less than £3OO per month. Even then only very meagre assistance can be given, but this assistance helps materially in tiding families over the crisis. Fuel has in the past been a very heavy item, but by purchasing direct from the mine, the Committee is making a saving of about £45 per month on coal. The supply of foodstuffs is now purchased wholesale, and the number of items is confined to eight, which are absolute necessities. Volunteer assistance at the depot enables these to be made up into regulation weight parcels, and all relief is handed out at the depot. In addition, gifts of clothing, boots, vegetables and fruit are being received, In a great many cases from the unemployed who show a very fine spirit. With the growing demand for this meagre relief, the Committee’s bank account is almost depleted, and it is faced with the very important task of ensuring a monthly fund of at the very least £3OO, quite apart from any gifts of food, clothing or fuel. Without this, the Society’s work will cease, and this will be a very serious matter for the community.