The Saint Paul globe., 1904-11-01
TO SPREAD GOOD CHEER
OBJECT OF THE INTERNATIONAL
SUNSHINE SOCIETY
It is Only What We Ought All to Do
and to Be, but Spurred on by Organ
lied Effort the Members Make Many
Burden Lighter
lave you had a kindness shown?

Have you had a kindness shown?
Pass it on.
Twas not done for you alone
Pass it on.
Let it travel down the years,
Let it wipe another's tears,
Till in heaven the deed appears
Pass it on.
The above is the motto of the Sun
shine society, an organization incorpo-
rated in 1900 of which Mrs. Cynthia
Westover Alden is the president gen
eral and was the organizer. The So
ciety is a very old one although its
career under the present name is a
short one, but its basic idea is as old
as the Christian era. 1t is, in a word,
merely to spread good cheer, to en-
courage and to brighten the lives of
those whose way is made hard either
by misfortune or illness. In reality
what the members of this society do is
only what we should all do day by
day for those about US, but so weak is
human nature that it needs to be
Spurred on the right way, and this
Sunshine society is one of the pleas
anteSt methods of becoming unSelfiSh
It's membership is tremendous, and its
work reaches from ocean to ocean, in
the quietest and most unostentatious
manner.
The exchange of letters is one of the
phlanthropies of the Sunshiners
These are written, full of beautiful
thoughts and good cheer. to invalids
or to those who have no correspond
eutS and who have in some way made
known to the society their desire for
friendship. Then when birthday Of
a shut-in comes around, little gifts are
sent letters are written, and the day
frightened by kindly deeds of those
unseen friends who are associated to-
gether in a heavenly work.
In almost every section of the coun-
try there is one paper which deyoteS
some space to the society, and in this
way communications are made and
the members enabled to keep in touch
with each other. Now this is all very
beautiful and uplifting. and 1T is so
easy to become a member and snare
in the benefits, which are reactionary,
that it is wonder every woman in
the world does not join. II might not
be quite impossible for a man to
spread sunshine too, but, as a rule,
women are expected to do all that sort
of thing.
Think what it means to be shut in.
'rhink what it means to spend ones
life in bed or in Il wheel chair, not to
move without agony, not to be able
TO feed ones self; TO walk, or to do
anything for others. Yet this is the
life led by untold numbers of un-
llble state of affairs is bad enough
when one is surrounded by every COM
fort and luxury that money can buy,
1ut what of the mental distress super
induced by poverty combined with it?
Z is to make the way easier for these
that the Sunshine society began it's
beautiful work. and the number of
burdens lightened and GOOD cheer dis
pensed will only be known when the
eternal records can be read.
There are branches of this organi-
Zation in every desolate corner of the
world, and besides the work referred to
above the society has established homes
Tor old men, lunch rooms for working
girls asyiums for the blind and right
here in Minnesota during the past sum-
mer, there was maintained a Eest house
at Chisago lake for tired-out women.
How few of us realize that this great
work is being done in our vicinity or
how much OF it is needed and appre-
ciated For that is one beautiful thing
about the Sunshine society that its
work can be done quietly, without any
great outlay of money, and that it new
- comes before the public to ask for
offerings. But to those who have re-
ceived its ministrations it is a price