Evening star., 1941-07-01
u. ). 0. Fund Raisers
Report S176,774
OF S25O,0O0 Goal
Increase Of $4,000
Over Lost Weeks TotoI
Gifts Is Shown

Moving toward their s250000 goal,
volunteer workers in the United
Service Organizations drive here
brought their total to sl76. .774O3 at
the thirdsU. S. o. report luncheon
in the Mayf1ower Hotel today.
Reports showed an increase of
about s50,0OO over the total reported
last Tuesday, the second report
luncheon, and for the second time
the Government unit provided the
bulk of the increase.
Brig. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey.
deputy director OF selective service
and guest speaker at the luncheon,
told the workers that the national
U. S. o. goal of sl0,765 900 would
provide not the luXuries but the
scant necessities for the men in
uniform.
80 More Volunteers.
The number of U. S. o. campaign
solicitors was swelled by nearly go
persons last night as citizens who
registered earlier this month with
the Central Volunteer Bureau of the
District Defense Council crowded
around geographically labelled
tables in the Interdepartmental
Auditorium to register for U. S. O.
solicitation.
The registration followed a meet
ing conducted by the U. S. o. for
about $50 volunteers responding
from about 1900 selected hastily
from the as yet uncompleted files
of the volunteer bureau.
officials were satisfied with the
response, they indicated last night.
The meeting was presided over by
Sidney Taliaferro, chairman of the
General Campaign Committee, and
addressed by Charles P. Taft, assist
ant co-ordinator of health, welfare
and related defense activities of the
Federal Security Agency.
The workers were supplied in ad-
vance by Mr.. Taft with answers TO
arguments which might be advanced
by those prospects they approach.
Not only do service men wish to
get away from governmental dis
cipline during their leisure hours,
but you couldn't get the money
out of Congress" to support the
recreational program on an official
basis, he maintained.
Where d. c. Funds Go.
Volunteers cannot give the sus-
tanned effort possible with a pro-
fessional recreation staff and service
club building, Mr.. Taft continued.
The ultimate aim of the staffs, he
said, would be not only to give
Simple homelike counsel to the
men, but to interpret to the men by
straightforward statements why they
are in camp.
The national U. S. o. share of
funds raised in Washington will
be spent on Fort Belvoir and other
nearby camps, he pointed out, and
even if sent further away, will be
beneftting the far-f1ung residents
of the District assigned to camps
all over the country.
Main problem in Washington on
all days and at all hours, Mr. Taft
told the group, is beds for service
men. Businessmen who cannot find
hotel rooms here at least would be
able to pay for available ones, but
service men are helpless, he ex-
planned.
In a sweeping panorama of cir
cumstances faced by small towns
near big camps all over the coun-
try Mr.. Taft mentioned the case
of Fredericksburg, Md, early in
June.
Twenty-Five thousand men fin
ished mock war maneuvers near
that town of approximately 5000
Taft said, and about $4,000 of them
descended on the town.
THE townspeople stood in front
of their houses with their mouths
open" Mr.. Taft said. BY night
all food and canned goods were
gone, all postage stamps sold, all
postcards mailed"
Mechanical details of the drive
here, scheduled to end July II, were
explained by Fred c. Spaulding,
campaign director; Edwin N. Lewis,
campaign secretary, and Harry L.
Merrick, solicitation chairman. Also
speaking was Coleman Jennings,
chairman of the Community Chest.
who emphasized the cooperation of
all local agencies in the drive.