GOOD CHEER

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXVIII, Issue 128, 25 May 1932, Page 7

GOOD CHEER

400 MEALS FIRST WEEK HASTINGS INVESTMENT Approximately four hundred meals were served at the Hastings “Good Cheer” Food Depot in its first week, and numbers of people obtained meals which they took away with them. On occasions when the supply has exceeded the demand, members of the committee have delivered the surplus to people in need. The depot, which is now fully equipped, and capable of serving more than 250 meals a day, is believed to be the first of its kind in New Zealand. Children in need are supplied with free coupons made available by sympathisers, and adults are able to procure a very excellent two-course hot meal at a cost of threepence. Those who have only a little money, but choose to pay for their meal rather than to accept it as a ’gift, are thus enabled to obtain a satisfying meal at the same time preserve their independence. Those without money may obtain free coupons from the clergy and from other authorised persons, and there is no need for anyone in Hastings to go hungry. That was the first thought of the committee in charge of the depot. “We are often asked: ‘Does it pay?’ ” said a member of the committee to a “Tribune” reporter. “If you look into the depot at about halfpast four,” he said “you would be able to answer emphatically 'Yes.’ There you would fine some fifty happy little children, all neatly dressed (thanks to the Red Cross) enjoying the tasty hot meal prepared for them. The depot offers the best investment ever put before the Hastings pubi Anyone who invests £1 with the “Good Cheer” Depot is guaranteed a dividend of eight smiling little faces and eighty well satisfied appetites. “The supply of provisions is one of the wonderful features of this effort,” added the committeeman. “A few incidents will serve to show the spirit behind the supporters of the organisation. There is a tap at the door, and a man says: ‘Here’s ten shillings and there’s another ten shillings to follow.’ A banging at the back door. It is a Chinaman with quantities of cabbages, carrots, and other vegetables. ‘What name?’ we ask him. ‘Me no wantee give name,’ he says. Another man rings up and says there’s a carcase at the Whakatu Freezing Works. We ring up the works and find that it is a gift of a whole bullock. A woman enters carrying a basket. ‘Just a bag of carrots and onions to help you along,’ she says. And so it goes on. Truly the spirit of the people has been wonderful.”