Minneapolis Spokesman

Greater Saint Paul
Community Chest Drive
Gathering Good Steam

As various divisions launch the drives for their quotas, the 1960 fund raising campaign of the Greater St. Paul Community Chest is gathering a good head of steam leading up to the public participation stage, Oct. 6 to 27. The over-all goal this year is $2,300,140, which will provide substantial support for the 1961 programs of the more than 40 Red Feather agencies affiliated with this Chest. Included among these agencies are the Crispus Attucks Home, Hallie Q. Brown Community House and St. Paul Urban League. All of the agencies have services beneficial to any residents of the Greater St. Paul when those services are needed. The services include the broad fields of health, counseling, the handicapped, rehabilitation, job referrals, citizenship building, leisure time activities, child and youth guidance and many others. Three out of four families having children are benefited through the various services.

"The Chest and its contributors," said Franklin Briese, Chest president, "can take pride in the fact that this organization is entirely under control of the people of this community. There is local determination of the amount of money to be raised. There is local control of the funds appeal, local control of the money raised, local control of the services provided and an annual audit of the Chest records by a certified public accountant. Every precaution for the protection of the contributors' dollars is taken. And within this framework of local responsibility, the Chest makes funds available to our state and national agencies, such as USO. Analysis of our goal shows that more than 92 percent of the money raised goes directly for local agencies' services and less than eight percent represents the combined costs of the campaign and year-around administration."

Increased expenditures of Red Feather agencies in the next year are necessitated in part by upward adjustment of employees' salaries to bring them into the area's prevailing pay brackets; expansion of present services to meet increased demands due to concentration of congested areas; wider contact with youth groups in the effort to reduce delinquency; increased services to senior citizens; more service to suburbs as these communities grow and the generally higher costs of maintaining services long established.

Robert F. Leach, general chairman of the 1960 campaign, is confident the goal will be attained. "We can point with pride," he said, "that this community and its volunteer workers have faced up to responsibilities in the past and it is a matter of record that the larger contributors and executive and employee groups here contribute more generously in proportion to their means than do their counterparts in almost any other community in the nation."

Ten thousand volunteers from all walks of life will carry the story of the Red Feather to every home in Ramsey county. The initial gifts division got started August 29, national corporations on September 7, special gifts on September 13, employees' division will launch its drive September 26, the business division on September 26 and the residential on October 7.

Mrs. Harold J. Slawik, chairman of the national corporations division, outlined the theme simply and powerfully at a recent meeting of her workers. "Through our contributions of money and effort," said Mrs. Slawik, "we are simply trying to give back something to the community that has given so much to all of us. We can do no less."

The first public progress report will come from the employee division luncheon on October 11. This will be followed by luncheons of the neighborhood division October 14, special gifts and national corporations divisions, on October 18, school division on October 21, agencies on October 25 and the final reports will be made at a dinner for all workers on October 27.