The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-07-31
WHAT OUR RED CROSS DID

was that of the home service section.
The following report of the Rev. Paul
Roberts, county chairman. shows the
diversity Of the labors which were
undertaken by this phase of the work.
Brookings County Chapter, A. R. c.
Home Service Section.
The Home Service Section of the
Brookings County Chapter of the
American Red Cross was organized at
an executive meeting of the Chapter
in August, 1918. The Rev. Paul Ro-
berts of Bookings was elected the
chairman for the county and he was
voted the sum of fifty dollars with
which to start the work. Immediately
an organization was effected. Local
chairmen were elected by the branches
as follows:
Aurora-Charles Gaukel.
Bruce. H. Armstrong.
Elkton-Rev. w. T. Shean.
Sinai-Rev. o. f. Johnson.
Volga-Rev. VIM. Bullock.
'White-Rev. r. j. Aitcheson.
A Brookings city committee was al,
so appointed to include a doctor, a
lawyer, a business man. This local
committee was made up of DR.. Hyde,
w. E. Purdy, Mr.. Catlett, Prof. Shir.
ley Miller, Miss Murphy and R. F.
Kerr.
BY means of posters in conspicuous
places in each town of the county, and
articles in the papers the public was
notified that the Home Service Com
mittee stood ready to serve the alb
sent soldier or his family at home
in any possible way, and for a year
the committee has tried to meet every
request that has come to it.
A card catalogue of the soldiers that
left Bookings county was compiled
under the direction of r. F. Kerr.
This catalogue was made as COM
plete as possible, though there were
many omissions due to the diticulty
of discovering men who had volun-
local draft board had no information.
1t is utterly impossible to make a
complete report of the activities of
the County Home Service Section for
a great number and variety of re-
quests were made of it from time to
time. Many of these requests made
action with the Northern Division
Headquarters necessary and most of
these cases are on file. Many more
requests were made for advice and
assistance in writing various depart
ments in Washington for information
and help. A great deal of work was
left undone that might have been done
if the members of the committee had
not been men busy with other work.
An aggressive campaign might have
been made over the entire county to
get in personal touch with the family
of every soldier and a survey made
Of the information obtained, but for
this sort of intensive work a man or
giving his or her entire time
to the work would have been neces-
sary, and such a person was not Sc
cured. Credit, however, must be given
to individuals who gave the work a
great deal of time both in interviews,
correspondence, visits and trips over
the county to keep in touch with per-
sonal cases and the work among the
branches.
An exact, detailed report of the
work accomplished cannot be made by
the chairman, who had 40 secretary
and in a year full to overlooking with
tasks in connection with his regular
duties had to keep track, as best he
county, and naturally much of it was
not recorded as exactly as it might
have been. No request that was
made, however, was left without the
best attention possible and no matter
was dropped until satisfaction had
cepted for the impossibility of the
task assigned.
The work of the Home Service Sec
ton has revealed the necessity, in
such a county as Brookings, of just
such workers as the Red Cross hopes
to put in each county, visiting nurses,
family welfare workers, social work.
ers to meet the needs, not merely of
soldiers and their families, but of
many others who should have the at.
tention that such workers, giving their
whole time in the service, alone can
render.
The figures in this report are only
approximate figures, though fairly
close to the actual ones, and again
it must be stated that a great deal OF
work could not be accurately tabu,
lated in a statistical report.
The largest number of requests were
from families of soldiers for informa.
ton and help in securing the allot
ments and allowances provided by the
government. About thirty cases on
this one subject were investigated and
satisfaction secured in each one.
Many families were worried because
they did not hear from their members
in the service and soldiers often were
in danger Of losing their morale be
cause of no letters from home. About
ten cases of this sort were invests
gated until communication was es.
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