RADIO APPEAL MAKES NEW £32,000 In A Few Hours!

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 54, 5 July 1940, Page 47

RADIO APPEAL MAKES NEW £32,000 In A Few Hours!

Sa wind-up to the Auckland Province’s appeal for funds on behalf of the Sick, Wounded and Distress Fund, Station 1ZB decided to launch a monster radio appeal on a Sunday evening to swell the funds, In order to cover as wide a field as possible, people representing various sections of the community were asked to speak during the evening. The, proceedings were opened by the Controller of the National Commercial Broadcasting Service, C. G. Scrimgeour, and the microphone was handed over by him to Kenneth Melvin. During the evening eight of Auckland’s prominent citizens gave short addresses on behalf of the appeal. At 9.15, Station 1YA linked up, and a short address was made by the Prime Minister. From 7.30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Station 1ZB was a hive of activity. Practically the whole of the staff of 1ZB was on duty and additional staff of thirty people were accommodated in the Main Studio to handle twelve additional telephones, adding machines, book-keeping, etc. Shortly after the appeal was launched six additional telephones were brought into operation at the Chief Post Office, and as the pressure became heavier an additional thirty *phones were requisitioned at taxi companies, warehouses and hotels in the city. For over three hours forty-eight telephones were going at full pressure. During the first 15 minutes of the appeal £500 was contributed. After three-quarters of an hour the total stood at £2,400; at 9.40 the figure had reached £4,026; at 10.15, £10,848; at 11.45, £15,170; and when the station closed down at 12.30 the total was £16,701. Over £60 was handed in in cash by people who came to the studio because they said they had been trying desperately for hours to make their contribution by "phone. Some kindly people, realising the exhausting nature of the work, organised a supper department and provided gallons of coffee and piles of sandwiches for much needed refreshment. Several people came to the Station with hats and boxes full of silver and copper which had been collected at gatherings and clubs. To the Rescue! At about 10 o'clock a message was broadeast calling for relief telephonists, and the response was so great that literally hundreds

of eager volunteers poured into the Station from near and far. Some of the menfolk arrived collarless and hatless; one man even came with clothes hastily pulled on over pyjamas, and his pink bed socks could be plainly seen above his shoes. Despite the enormous pressure of work and the extension of the organisation to handle

results that were three times as much as expected, the work was carried out smoothly and with clocklike precision, The Following Day After the Station closed down plans were made to handle a large number of anticipated calls that would come to the Station the following day from people who were not able to ring up on the Sunday night. Seven telephones were kept busy handling these additional donations on the Monday, despite the fact that it was broadcast that the appeal would be re-opened on Monday evening from 1ZB at 9.30. Early in the day it became apparent that all normal programmes at 1ZB would have to be cancelled from 7.30 p.m. onwards in order to acknowledge the donations in hand. Excitement ran high on the Monday evening when thousands of people were still ringing the studio to give their donations.

£151 for a Bracelet One woman, saying that she had no money to spare, but would like to give something to the Fund, brought in to the studio a beautiful old bracelet, which was a family heirloom. The bracelet was auctioned and listeners bid up to £55 for it! " Sold at £55, it was returned by the buyer to the donor; she passed it back for auction, and it was sold a second time, for £51. Again returned, it was finally offered to W. A. Stevenson, a contractor of Auckland, who bought it for £225. Subsequently, £20 was paid for the right to exhibit the bracelet, which thus brought £351. It was undoubtedly Auckland’s big night. Telephone calls came in by the hundred. Operators desperately listed names, numbers and donations. From 9.30 p.m. till midnight the siege continued, and by that time, the amazing sum of £32,000 had been subscribed. The point is that the greater part of the £32,000 was made up of small amounts, £1, 10/-, 5/-, and even lesser sums, given by all classes of the community, resident in all parts of Auckland. There were factory workers, business people, taxi drivers, hotelkeepers, farmers, shop assistants, civil servants; in fact, everyone was consumed by the spirit of giving. Australia Wants to Copy John Gordon, the production supervisor of 1ZB, cannot be grateful enough to the listeners who responded so generously to the

Station’s appeal for the Sick, Wounded and Distress Fund, An indication of the success of the appeal can be taken from the fact that Australia has cabled the General Secretary for New Zealand, of the Sick, Wounded and Distress Fund, Major J. Abel, asking for full details of the radio appeal in New Zealand, with a view to launching a similar campaign om behalf of the Australian Fund.