HANDS aCROSS THE SEA
A drive is underway this week in Seldovia
for relief supplies for the needy peoples of Eur
ope, Seldovian1* will do well to harken to this
call, for it is indeed a worrhy one, 17e are not
asked to give what we need burselves, rather only
those articles that we can no longer use. Old
clothing which we would discard or throw away
outgrown shoes, old bedding or any of the numerous
articles that we feel we no longer need.
The donations are being gathered for shipment
to Europe by the local hospital, and the contrib
utions are entirely voluntary. Vfe in Seldovia
should bear in mind that there are those less for
tunate than us and give freely to this cause.
There is a land where warm beds, adequate
clothing and enough food are only long — - rmpn
membories, there is a land where little children
know the want of hunger and parents suffer by the
knowledge of such wants, — there is a land where
■;ar has lbft a scar and the healing of that scar
is many treatments yet away.
IXirmg the v/ar we were fortunate- enough to
have the opportunity to sponsor a warorphan» The
Foster Parents Association of America. signed to
us a snail Dutch boy, Jan Eillens by nanfe^ photo
graphs of the little chap arrived and soon cane
letters in the ch ildish ■serawl of an eightf ye
zr old. The letters- were r/ritten Ih the’Native
language of the child whos home was in Den Haag,
and Henie Snider of Anchorage was good enough to
interpert the messages. Jan»s nbther had been
killed during the war, his father 17as a member of
the Royal Dutch Navy and presumed living although
ho had not beeji heard of for four years.
The letters from this youngster bore the
trace of the suffering and plight of the war
torn countries of Europe. One letter in partic
ular reflected the tragedy of the country when Jan
told how he and some other boys his age had stolen
black bread along the railroad tracks in order to
survive. a '
.America to Jan Villens wa? a country of almost
fable fanticy. His letters 'were filled with his
glowing plans to cone to "the great land", Y/hen he
grew up, . ‘
Truly we here in
Aneriea do live in "the
great land”, and because
we are fortunate enough to
live in such a land we som
etimes forget that want and
suffering are still domin
ant factors in another land.
The miles ^between
sometimes seem so great
that it is our natural
tendency to forget the
plight of the peoples
across the globe, however
a great country is .meas
ured not only by what it
■dees for. itself but also
that it does for others.
Winiter is approach
ing in Europe and it is
imperative that this
shipment reach those who
so desperately need help
in the very near future.
We would do well .to
remember that "but for
the grace of God, there
be I", Let us all give
generously to this drive,
that others might live