WONDERFUL RESPONSE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 64, 13 September 1940, Page 40

WONDERFUL RESPONSE

£2,150 Contributed To Bomber Fund In 2ZA's Appeal

FTER an appeal to the public for donations on Sunday night, September 1, Station 2ZA received £2,150 in contributions for the Commercial Travellers’ Rehabilitation and Bomber Fund, proof of the large listening audience that the Commercial Broadcasting Service’s junior station must have. From 8 o'clock to midnight telephones Were ringing constantly, and listeners were *phoning to donate whatever sum they could afford, be it 6d. or £5. In four hours £2,150 had been given. The appeal was run along the same lines as that conducted recently by the ZB stations for the Sick, Wounded and Distress Fund, when the response was tremendous. Twenty Lines Busy ~ John Brown, Station Director of 2ZA, had to get busy and organise a system whereby listeners could ring the station without confusion, and without having to wait several minutes for a connection. And it is to the P. & T. Department that great credit must go, for they installed 20 telephone lines, and all outside exchanges were open in the Palmerston North District. These people worked voluntarily, and willingly. Mr. Brown says: "I cannot express my appreciation of the manner in which the P. & T. Department co-ordinated with us; without their assistance we could not have possibly dealt with so many "phone calls. Their work was un-

tiring, as was that of the Commercial Travellers’ Association, and of my own staff, too. {t was all done in a most co-operative spirit." Station 2ZA was equipped and ready at 7.45 p.m. The Mayor of Palmerston North, A. E. Mansford, opened the proceedings with a short appeal to listeners to assist to their utmost "The Rehabilitation and Bomber Fund." Up and Down the Country At two minutes to eight o'clock the first donation was received, and from then until two minutes past midnight listeners steadily ‘phoned, some calls coming from a8 far south as Invercargill, and some from as far north as Dargaville. Among those who made appeals to listeners over the air were: Jack Grant, President of the Palmerston North Rotary Club, C. Chicatto, who spoke on behalf of the business people, L. Collinson, President of the Manawatu Racing Club, and Bert Jacobs, President of the R.S.A. (Vice-President of N.Z.R.S.A.). J. Hodgkins, M.P. for the district, also gave an address. Percy Aitken, President of the C.T.A., paid a tribute to those who had given up their time to the job, to Station 2ZA for its generous donation of time on the air, and to listeners who had made such a ready response to the appeal. There was a crowd in the studio and after Mr. Aitken’s speech of thanks they began "For They Are Jolly Good Fellows," thus paying another tribute to 2ZA’s willing assistance.