QUOTAS EXCEEDED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 175, 19 June 1940, Page 5

QUOTAS EXCEEDED

SICK AND WOUNDED FUND* "SPECTACULAR ACHIEVEMENT'* Wellington^ At noon yesterday it was reported that the Sick, Wounded and Dis-** tress Fund exceeded £268,000. The provincial totals were given as fol-< lows:— £ Auckland 42,000 Wellington 60,000 Canterbury 55,000 Otago 50,000" Gisborne 4,000 Hawke's Bay 22,200 Taranaki -14,000 Marlborough 2,500 West Coast 1,500 Palmerston North 10,900 Nelson 2,000 Appreciative comment upon the spectacular achievement of having raised £250,000 for the sick and. wounded in less than four weeks was given by Mr J. Abel, honorary Dominion organiser of the appeal to-day. He survej r ed the response of the various provinces and said that o>rr account of the changed situation overseas, greater amounts than originally estimated woukl probably be required for carrying* on the splendid work of the New Zealand Red Cross Society and the, Order of St. John. While the original amount of a quarter of a million had been exceeded, lie said, there were still several provinces in which major schemes were still in operation, including a number of large scale art unions which would not be completed until about the end of this month. The Auckland figures could not be taken as any serious indica-* tion of finality, as the northern city had set itself a' quota of at least £75,000. The big effort was a queen carnival with nine queens and most of the money from this scheme ■ would naturally not be handed In ;until' the last minute. In Otago the response was remarkable. While not aware of the exact figures, Mr Abel said Dunediti alone must have raised from £10,000 to £12,000 in the last week, while the whole province of Otago achieved the remarkable total of £28,000 ;in the week. Without wishing to overshadow the efforts of other provinces, he declared that Otago, by already doubling its original quota !of £25,000, had set a lead to the rest ;of New Zealand, and he expected ;tliat at least some of the other provinces would set the goal of deubl* : ing theirs. Some were, in fact, already well on the way towards this objectives

In suggesting a continuation of provincial efforts,. Mr Abel said that when the appeal was originally launched there had been no invasion of Holland, Belgium or France, and in aiming at £250,000 the organisers had considered this amount sufficient. Now, owing to the serious situation that had developed in Flanders and elsewhere, and to the fact that the Lord Mayor's Fund in London had appealed for more medical stores and ambulances, it was realised that greater amounts-, would be necessary.