RED CROSS ON JOB WHEN TORNADO HIT FRANKTON

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 89, 1 September 1948, Page 5

RED CROSS ON JOB WHEN TORNADO HIT FRANKTON

Emergency Scheme Works Smoothly By strange coincidence it was during discussion on the neces- ' sity for building up the Red Cross disaster relief fund that the New Zealand Red Cross Society’s executive, in session at Wellington last week, got news of the Frankton tornado disaster, said Mrs A. W. Winstone, of Whakatane, *a member of the executive, in discussing the meeting yesterday. Fortunately, she added, the Waikato Centre has a well-organised Emergency Scheme, and the Dominion Chairman, Mr A. E. Gibbons, (who is also Chairman of the Waikato Red Cross Centre) was enabled, through courtesy of the P. and T. Department, to get in touch with Waikato and found that Red Cross there had a canteen operating within half an hour of the disaster. Next day, Mr Gibbons was able to report to the executive that, as well as running the canteen till late at night, Red Cross V.A.’s had visited damaged homes, helping those affected, and assisting distracted housewives to sort out their belongings. Red Cross also supplied sums of money to enable purchases of immediate necessities, suc.h as food supplies, and had distributed clothing where needed. In addition, Red Cross workers collected wet and soiled blankets, rugs etc., and had them cleaned, dried and ready to return to their owners before the week-end. Offers of assistance poured in from other Red Cross Centres. As a matter of general interest, Mrs Winstone added that the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund is not confined to disaster within New Zealand but is available anywhere in the world when -the need arises, such as the Dominican earthquake last year.