Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

s: “I felt with those poor starving people, and when a request came for a food- draft, I always sent one; but they are coming so thick that I hardly know what to do.” Even though there was a provision in the agreement to prevent abuse, nevertheless it could not be avoided entirely; for it occasionally happened that some person who was himself personally known in America, or had somehow secured a number of addresses, would send out as many as twenty or more requests, in the hope that should a number miscarry, the others might bring food for himself and his children. As a result some people received rather more than their share of food-packages, while others just as needy received none. For this reason, we were obliged to counsel American friends to make most of their contributions to the general fund and buy food-remittances only when they wished to help special friends or acquaintances. For child-feeding, ten dollars in the general fund would go a good deal farther than a food-remittance of the same amount. CONTENTS OF Foop AND CLOTHING REMITTANCE PACKAGES The content of the ten dollar food-remittance pack- age (in Russia they called it “Pacilka’’) was as follows: 49 pounds of white flour; 25 pounds of rice; 15 pounds of sugar; 10 pounds of bulk lard or an equal amount of bacon; 3 pounds of tea; and twenty tins of condensed milk. In the accompanying illustration you see the satis- fied villager standing beside the food purchased by a ten 280 FEEDING THE HUNGRY dollar remittance order just handed out to him. It was the cause of great rejoicing when he reached home. A similar arrangement was made for the clothing remittances. The agreement read virtually the same and one-fourth of the purchase price was taken for general clothing supply and distribution. The package to be delivered to the beneficiary for each $20.00 clothing remittance contained approximately the following material: 1. Four and two-thirds yards all wool cloth in dark colors, sufficient to make one outfit for either man or woman, or for outer garments for two children. 2. Four yards lining for the above. 3. Sixteen yards of muslin, sufficient for four suits of underwear. 4. Eight yards flannelette, sufficient for either two men’s shirts or two women’s shirt-waists. 5. Buttons and thread sufficient to make up the above articles. The A.R.A. reserved the right to make variations in the contents of both classes of remittances as seemed expedient, to which the purchaser must submit, for he was not permitted to vary the content. The clothing remittance was never used very ex- tensively by the American Mennonites, for it supplied things which might at least partly be classed as luxury. It was possible to render greater aid with the same amount of money, when less expensive yet just as serviceable clothing was sent, either such as was prepared by our sewing societies or else given by individuals. The sewing