Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-30
PATTERSON HEADS
ASSO. CHARITIES
Officers Are Elected and Reports Of
Work Done During Epidemic
Read at Annual Meeting

Miss Madeline Draper, and treasurer
l.. l.. Maloney.
The following reports of the supcrin
tcndcnt of the Visiting Nurses Association
and the acting secretary Of the Associated
Charities were. read and approved:
TO the Board of Managers of the
Associatiatcd Charities:
| The visiting nurses made f,2TI visits
during the month Of September, and in
| October made 2022 visits
The above figures show To some degree
the unprecedented efforts of three, and
| later four nurses during the influenza
epidemic
| With four nurses sick. three staff
| nurses and the superintendent worked
| from : n. m. until 10 ~ m for the past
four weeks without an hours respite.
| The insistcnt calls for nurses to come
| to the sick and dying and the physical in
| ability 10 attend but minor portion of
| these appeals has been one of the many
| distressing and heartbreaklng experiences
| of the nurses.
Not even has it been possible for us to
| care for our own stall nurses who sue
cumhed to the disease Several nursed
with fcvcrs until compelled to give up
In the wake of such n scourgc the
visiting nurses are finding lnnumcrablc
dchilitatcd patients No doubt the rignrs
| OF winter following the damage done, lung
| and bronchial havoc viii quadruple the
usual number of respiratory diseases of
normal winter time and vii! lead up TO a
very busy time for the Visiting Nurse
Association.
nia~n IL. Il rs our service % the public
hrs hccn great. our collection IN fees
has hccn negligible Mcst Of our cases
could have paid Many of our eases were
tho ncads ~ the household and the
thought cf money has been the last Thought
oe the visiting nurse So VIC have come
away fcC-less from homes that. IN normal
conditions, would have been expected
~ pay the normal dues | tcei th' II IS
their generous response 10 our Special
ippcel FOR funds IN ;hie emergency And
th1t ,hosc WHO have had the care from
hn visiting Nurses who are, or will bc
Inc tD roa,rinuc small amounts to-
wards tho maintenance of tllis Commun-
IL, pu,.hc Health Wotk will call at the
office cr mail rs 'hoir contributions
Our Loan Closet furnished outfits
icr infants. NIGHT clothing fer adults
sek raom supplies ard drugs 70 the poor
Without the splendid aid of tho Red
Cross Mo;cr Service the Visiting Nurses
would have fallen hv the WRvsic both
rv lcslrg their own Strength md pv un-
dcrmI inr their single cndcavor 10 reach
ratlci te NJ cnc -lnqlc thing has kent
lis q; rut posts with uulmpalred energy
as this humane cooperation
II aIsciecl thaf largo number 81 people
VINO have heen 50 generous with thclr
cars have also known FIR the first tune that
Visiting Nur~ Is meant 10 Wilmington
To measure he cfTcrt~ of tho Visiting
Nurse hy cold li,ures Is an lmp,ssihIltv
] can only recommend 50 YOU the untIring
efforts ot NirS v orth.ngton AMI Miss
Hastings There haS been no dutvteo long
Or arduous no hour to early or late that
these two have failed 10 respond cheer
fullv 10 The office Cr dl~tric. demands
Such assistants ere a1ove price and all
words OF praise irrNpressIve
Respectfully u nnltcd Marie I
Lockwood II ur, rlHt endent
sECRETARi sUReroRr.
1T Is with feeling Of great relief
that Wilmington realizes that the dread
FIJI epidemic which has brought So much
suffering and misery TO her people Is on
the wane But what Of the broken homes
and saddcned hearts which il has left
in lts wake?
You have seen the appeal in the daily
papers and have all received the letter
asking YOU for your special contribution at
this time. Our people have responded
nobiv and we greatly appreciate the
promptness and generosity OF their re-
Spouse
Perhaps il would be interesting for
vcu to now something Of the number of |
new families which have come to the |
Associated Charities as direct result |
Of the epidemic and how they have been |
referred
Nineteen new families, fourteen of |
whom are widows with young children, |
one family of six orphaned children, |
three families were one or both parents /
are slowly recovering, and one q widower
with three children under four years of
a ge. have come to us for assistance dur
ing the month of October
"Of these nineteen, eight were re-
ferrcd by the Civilian Relief three by the
Visiting Nurse Association, one by the
Country Club Emergency Hospital, one
by the Board of Health, one by ply
sician. one by friend, one by the Phil
adclphia Society for Organizing Charity,
and two by personal application
In addition 10 these new families
seventeen of our old families who were
wholly or partially self-supporting have
;ome To us to tide them over the period
when the wage Garner, either father or
widowed mother, was incapacltated for
work In most cases the whole family
we're in bed, and the only care they re
,eived was from the visiting nurse IN her
laily visit
These thirty-six families represented
me hundred and twenty-five children,
III Of whom had to be fred and cared for
When we stop to consider that if costs
lot less than 50 a week per person for
ood and that special diet had to be
provided in many of these cases, that
ents must be paid and in some eases
uel procured you can readily under
tand why II was necessary TO make
pecial appeal
"And the end is not yet The last
Ell days has brought the largest per-
entage of these families to us, and more
re being referred every day The prob
I'M presented is not one of temporary
elief Where the bread winner has
cen taken from the family a permanent
Ian must be made Mothers with little
hildren cannot leave the homo and so
re not able at the best, TO earn only {
art Of what is needed to feed and clothe {
leir children
So IN the midst of prosperity, plenty I
work and high wages, looking forward
} winter where material assistance
Ould be needed less than ever before,
e are confronted with this new problem ! +
caring for those made destitute by the !
wages OF the recent epidemic
Respectfully submitted, {
ar Ethal6a M,,llon