A Community Effort for Overseas Aid
Schools across Benton County unite to gather cast-off clothing for Near East Relief orphanages in Armenia, Syria, and Greece.
A drive is underway in our local schools to aid the Near East Relief orphanage work in Armenia, Syria, and Greece. Mr. Swingle, Superintendent of the local school district, is coordinating with his counterparts in Kennewick, Prosser, Benton City, Richland, Finley, Hanford, and White Bluffs to have pupils collect all outgrown and cast-off garments lying unused in their closets and attics. The community is urged to bring these bundles to their nearest schoolhouse by next Monday. According to Mr. Swingle, it is not necessary to repair or press these garments, as the older children will assist in preparing them for shipment overseas to Seattle, helping to protect impoverished women and children from the chilly winds expected next March.
“If everyone will spend a few minutes in making-up a bundle they will have satisfaction of knowing that some poor woman or child will be protected from the chilly winds next March.”
This 1923 mobilization mirrors contemporary community donation drives for international crises, showing that the impulse toward global humanitarianism was woven into the very structure of rural Washington school systems a century ago.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.