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850 Washtenaw Women Helping In Red Cross Program: Nine Production Units At Work On War Relief, County Chapter Still In Need of Volunteers, However

850 Washtenaw Women Helping In Red Cross Program: Nine Production Units At Work On War Relief, County Chapter Still In Need of Volunteers, However image
Parent Issue
Day
6
Month
March
Year
1941
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Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
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850 Washtenaw Women Helping In Red Cross Program

Nine Production Units At Work On War Relief

County Chapter Still In Need Of Volunteers, However

Helping British civilians who have been made homeless by air raids and at the same time learning new abilities is the double achievement of some of the 850 women who are volunteering a few hours of their time each week in the nine Washtenaw county Red Cross production units.

Fifty boatloads of clothing of all types have been sent overseas by the national Red Cross, and it is to this war relief effort that Washtenaw county has already contributed nearly 1,500 garments.

Yet despite the scope of the county project, the Washtenaw chapter of the Red Cross is behind its quota and is in urgent need of more volunteer workers.

The work includes making clothes, both sewn and knitted, and surgical dressings. Mrs. Frederick A. Coller and Mrs. Russell Dobsen, jr., both of Ann Arbor, are serving as co-chairmen for the county.

Headed by Mrs. Joseph R. Hayden, Ann Arbor, the clothing production units are operated in assembly-line fashion, so that totally inexperienced workers may help in the making of clothes for British men, women, and children.

Makes Own Clothes

One woman who had never done any sewing began working at the Ann Arbor unit and last week finished making a coat for herself. Another, also completely inexperienced as a seamstress, has used her training on the Red Cross project to advantage in making dresses for her young daughters.

Production units are now in operation in Ypsilanti, Webster, Chelsea, Saline, Dexter, Manchester, Milan, Saline Valley Farms, and Ann Arbor.

In addition, two units in the county are producing surgical dressings. One is located in Welch hall, Ypsilanti, and operates from 9 to 4 o’clock on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week. The other, which is open Tuesday and Wednesday also from 9 to 4, is in the Rackham building in Ann Arbor.

At present this project is about 1,000 dressings a week behind its quota, and 40 more women are needed to help make the bandages. Mrs. Bradley Patton, Ann Arbor, is in charge of the work.

A quota of 52,000 dressings by June 1 has been received by the county unit, and to date less than 10,000 have been completed. Experience is not necessary for volunteer workers, as bandage rolling is taught.

Army Uses Dressings

All dressings from these projects throughout the United States are now going to the U. S. army, which found private manufacturers could supply only 10 per cent of its needs this year. When that other 90 per cent has been provided for the army, Red Cross dressings will be sent to England.

Beginning on a schedule of one day a week in January, the Ann Arbor dressing project expanded last month to two days weekly. Directors point out that only clean wash dresses or aprons and not expensive uniforms are necessary apparel for working on the project.

Still another section of Red Cross war relief work in Washtenaw county is a knitting project. Yarn is distributed from the production units and sweaters, sox, and children’s clothes are made at home.

This has proved to be the most popular of the three projects. When the last shipment of yarn was received here, enough of it to make 300 sweaters was taken out in two days. Mrs. D. W. McCready and Mrs. C. C. Sturgis, both of Ann Arbor, head the project.

From the 547 pounds of yarn recently received, Red Cross workers will knit 100 men’s sweaters, 200 women’s cardigan sweaters, 200 children’s sweaters, 200 children’s two-piece suits, 200 pairs of men’s sox, and 100 pairs of children’s sox.

In Ann Arbor, the garment production unit is located in the west hospital building on Catherine St. The entire building is devoted to the project five days a week, and is open from 9 o’clock in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. An officer of the day is in charge while the building is open.

Five hundred of the 850 county women now engaged in Red Cross war relief work are in Ann Arbor. Sixty of them are working on the surgical dressings project.

Since the middle of January, the county units have produced 200 layettes, 250 girls’ dresses, 150 pairs of hospital pajamas, 120 boys’ shirts, and 150 sweaters.

Shipped To Detroit

From the nine points in the county, garments are sent to Ann Arbor, where they are inspected and packed. Then they are sent to Detroit, and from there go to New York for shipment overseas.

The national Red Cross has sent 50 boatloads of supplies for British civilians across the Atlantic, and only five of the ships have been sunk.

The last quota received by the county production unit was 1,460 garments. When that was not filled in the allotted time, an extra *00 garments was added to it to form a new quota. About 1,500 garments have been completed. The unit was organized last Oct. 1 and began operations Nov. 1.

Plans are being made for organization of a motor corps under Mrs. John Kollen, 411 Lenawee Dr., to transport workers to and from the production unit headquarters.

Volunteers on the sewing project are assigned to individual processes of making the clothes. Cloth is marked from cardboard patterns

AID BRITISH CIVILIANS: One of the nine county units now making garments for bombed British civilians as part of the Red Cross war relief effort is located at Saline. From left to right above are three members of this unit, Mrs. John Camburn, Mrs. Joseph E. Thomas, and Mrs. Frank Camburn, who are sewing clothes to be shipped overseas.