Friday, November 14, 2014

Appeal Goes Out to Fund State's Orphanages, 1917

“A Reasonable Appeal,” from the Nov. 1, 1917, issue of The French Broad Hustler. The Hustler, Henderson County’s Leading Newspaper.

The people of North Carolina have never failed to tread the path of duty open to them. To each and every call to service, they have responded with liberality and cheerfulness. Her young men are covering themselves with glory by evidences of devotion to the flag, in word and action, and will give a splendid account of themselves at every turn of the way towards a lasting peace. Her captains of industry and her sons of toil have opened their hearts to the Liberty Loan, the Red Cross, and the cause espoused by the Young Men’s Christian Association. Her noble women have dedicated themselves to the service of their country and are showing to the world a love for human freedom that is beautiful to contemplate. The cries of heartbroken mothers, starving children, outraged daughters, and tortured fathers, in unspeakable need beyond the ocean wave, have fallen upon sympathetic ears throughout our Christian land. With our people, the first consideration is the honor of the flag, the safety of the Nation, and peace to all the world. And it is well for without self-sacrifice true happiness may not be attained in this world.

But while the measure of the Nation’s honor and the Nation’s heart is being taken, in relation to world conditions of today, let us not overlook the urgent needs of fatherless and motherless at our own doors. For after all, charity begins at home. Let us not overlook the hundreds of dependent children whom the orphanages of our State are training for individual efficiency and good citizenship. Every one of these institutions needs better equipment and larger support, and every one of them is besieged with applications for admission which must be denied for lack of means. Their capacity must be increased, or else hundreds of children now wandering the highways and by-ways subject to every evil temptation the world has to offer, will be neglected and probably irretrievably lost. We cannot—we will not—forget, for the Master says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ye have done it unto Me.” We are admonished to conserve the products of the farm, the forest, the factory and the mine. It is not equally—aye, vastly more—important to conserve the future manhood and womanhood of North Carolina. Shall the orphaned children of this glorious old commonwealth be handicapped for life because, in their tender years, they did not have the sheltering care and culture of an orphan home?

The North Carolina Orphan Association again calls upon every man, woman, and child in the State to contribute on, or near, Thanksgiving Day at least one day’s income (more if they will; less if they can do no better) to the orphanage of his or her choice. The need for such a call was never more urgent than now. Expense necessary to the maintenance of every orphan home in the State has increased, while the responsibilities have multiplied. So, let not the day pass without making a thank-offering to your Master, by denying yourself some pleasure, some luxury, even some necessity, to help the helpless become what their God and your God intended they should attain in this life and in the life to come.

This is a reasonable request for any one can share with the orphans the earnings of one day out of 265. It is practicable for the rich and poor alike can participate in it. The business and professional man, the farmer, the landlord, the lender, the wage earner, the salaried worker, the housewife, the news and messenger boys—EVERYBODY, old and young, of all creeds and classes, may united in beautiful co-operation for the support of a needed civic and Christian philanthropy. Let North Carolina make the approaching Thanksgiving a day of historic importance; a day on which the hearts of the people were opened to the little ones whom our splendid orphan homes are endeavoring to save from degeneracy and oblivion.

To this end we call upon the editors of our papers, daily and weekly, secular and religious, to give the widest possible publicity to this movement, which is philanthropic in purpose and State-wide in extent; we call upon all church leaders of all denominations, including pastors, Sunday school superintendents, women workers, and others of influence, to urge the giving of a day’s income to some one of our orphanages; we call upon the officers of the various fraternal orders to bring this appeal to the attention of each man in their membership and enlist his support of this modest offering; we respectfully request all superintendents and teachers of secular schools, colleges, and universities to induce their students and friends to unit with them in giving a day’s work or wages to the needy orphans of North Carolina. We invoke the cooperation of doctors, merchants, public officials, and all others with local following to pass the word along, with the Divine injunction: “Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones shall perish.” Actions speak louder than words.

            M.L. Shipman, James R. Young, John D. Berry, A.S. Barnes, Livingston Johnson, Raleigh, N.C. Publicity Committee

List of Orphanages

Baptist Orphanage, Rev. M.L. Kesler, Supt., Thomasville.

Methodist Orphanage, Rev. A.S. Barnes, Supt., Raleigh.

Presbyterian Orphanage, Rev. W.T. Walker, Supt., Barium Springs.

Methodist Orphanage, W. Thompson, Supt., Winston-Salem.

Methodist Protestant Home, H.A. Garrett, Supt., High Point.

Oxford Orphan Asylum, R.L. Brown, Supt., Oxford.

Christian Orphanage, C.D. Johnston, Supt., Elon College.

Odd Fellows Home, C.O. Baird, Supt., Goldsboro.

Pythian Home, C.W. Pender, Supt., Clayton.

Eleida Orphanage, Rev. L.P. Compton, Supt., Asheville.

Children’s Home Society, L.H. Putnam, Supt., Greensboro.

Nazareth Orphans’ Home, Rev. W.B. Werner, Supt., Crescent.

Nazareth Orphanage, Rev. Geo. A. Woods, Supt., Raleigh.

Mountain Orphanage, A.H. Temple, Supt., Balfour.

Falcon Orphanage, C.B. Strickyand, Supt., Falcon.

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