Charitable Organizations

The Canadian Red Cross Society Sarnia branch presented this life membership certificate to Mrs. J.B (Alice) Pardee on 12 March, 1918. Born in 1874, Mrs. Pardee lived to the age of 87, and was buried in 1961 with her husband, Boer War veteran, John Pardee in Sarnia, Ontario.

This postcard was sent to members of the Winnipeg Women’s Rifle Association in late September 1915. The association was involved in training women in various fields, and recruitment efforts.

The Brotherhood Continental Relief Fund was used by the Christian Men’s Federation of Canada and the Brotherhood National Council of Great Britain to build homes for those affected most by the conflict in Belgium and France.

If you (unfortunately) became a Canadian prisoner of war during the Second World War, your prisoner's parcel sent by the Canadian Red Cross would have been wrapped in a paper that looked just like this one here. 

This is an in-depth report of the wartime volunteering activities and efforts led by the Red Cross in Nova Scotia in 1940. It is particularly notable the emphasis on the role of women in assisting with the organization's initiatives, as well as the mentioning of children as both volunteers and beneficiaries of the Red Cross.

This book is a report on the Second National YMCA Canada conference at Hart House, at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario on April 23, 24 and 25 of 1943. This conference was particularly interested in dealing with the effect that the Second World War had on the organization. It also dealt with specific advice for social cohesion creation, and the discussion of more abstract topics such as democracy.

The first Act relating to War Charities was passed by the Canadian Parliament in 1939. This first act was passed in order to set the regulations and limitations of war charities. The intent of Parliament was to ensure that the funds collected by registered war charities were easily traceable, reported, and donated. This first Act also includes an example of the Application for Registration for War Charities, the form that charities would have had to file with the Canadian Government to perform their activities.

The soldier on leave could find much to do in London, and the YMCA was there to provide information and assistance with accommodations, meals, and entertainment.

During the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of men and women came to Britain from all parts of the British Empire, necessitating a massive volunteer effort to ensure that they were well taken care of while on leave and had as little opportunity as possible for getting into trouble.

The Scottish Rest Home for Serviceman, which this Toronto soldier visited in 1942, was opened by the Rotary Club of Edinburgh in June 1940; two years later, over 30,000 servicemen had already stayed there.