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Show Red Cross Asks $200,000,000 i To Cover Wartime Needs . WASHINGTON, D. C Confronted Confront-ed with responsibilities of unpre-; unpre-; cedented proportions, as the war enters its most crucial stage, and with a staggering task ahead in the post-war period, the American Red Cross opens its 1944 War Fund appeal March 1, confident that the ' American people will respond to the limit of their ability. President Roosevelt, president of ! the American Red Cross, Norman H. Davis, chairman and active head l of the vast organization, and Leon Fraser, national War Fund chairman, chair-man, join in urging the people of ! this country to help Red Cross ' reach its national objective of $200,000,000 because of the vital part it must play within the next twelve months. I Chairman Davis, in opening the campaign, will stress the fact that ' with the decisive stage of the war : at hand, the Red Cross must assume as-sume a greater burden than ever . before, and at the same time must : provide aid to servicemen being returned in ever-increasing num-. num-. bers. 1 Red Cross operations over the entire world during 1943 have , dwarfed its activities during the ' first two years of war. An even greater burden will be placed on Red Cross services in 1 1944. Thousands of American men and i women are now in Red Cross service serv-ice with TJ. S. troops at home bases and overseas. Field directors, 1 hospital, club and recreation workers work-ers are with American armed forces in virtually every command, Mr. Davis asserted. Both in Europe and in the Far East, Red Cross workers have : either gone with invasion forces Into new combat areas, or-have Hollowed within a very limited time. On the home front, the Red Cross has broadened its service tremendously. Field directors are serving in every sizable military establishment and camp throughout through-out the country, and recreation and social service workers are located in Army and Naval hospitals. One of the most important and necessary war-time Red Cross functions func-tions has been the collection of human blood for plasma. Thirty-five Thirty-five blood donor stations are now operating. The dramatic story of the Red Cross Blood Donor Service, through which thousands of soldiers and sailors have been saved from death, began in February, 1941, when the Surgeons General of the Army and Navy asked the Red Cross to procure pro-cure 16,000 pints of blood. Last year more than 3,700,000 pints of blood were collected for the Army and Navy. This year the goal is more than 6,000,000' pints. With major battles of the war yet to come, the Army has asked the Red Cross to supply many millions mil-lions of surgical dressings. American men wounded in battle will depend acutely on the vast Red Cross surgical dressing production program. pro-gram. Numerous other Red Cross home operations, such as Prisoner of War packaging centers, where more than a million parcels for war prisoners are prepared each month for shipment overseas, are supported sup-ported by citizen-participation in the Red Cross War Fund. So extensive is Red Cross service during this war that every American Amer-ican civilian can contribute something some-thing to at i least one of its functions. func-tions. To continue this gigantic work, all Americans must assume their share of the responsibility of carrying on this far-reaching service. The $200,000,000 quota will enable en-able Red Cross to alleviate suffering suffer-ing and pain at home and abroad, and to carry on its vast military welfare service. |
