Charitable Organizations

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.

This handy booklet contained instructions on how to make items for Canadians uniform, but also how to mail them and which charitable organizations were responsible for various activities.

This fund-raising map brochure, likely from 1942, offered a compendium of useful information on the nations at war, their weapons, and the territory that was being contested.

One of the deadliest legacies of the First World War was disease - not just the Spanish flu, but typhus, smallpox, and consumption. As this fund-raising pamphlet argued, children in Eastern Europe were especially vulnerable.

Over a single week in 1918, the Canadian Red Cross Society intended to raise $250,000 in Nova Scotia alone - the equivalent of over $3.4 million in 2014 values.

This booklet describes the services offered by the Canadian Red Cross in the past, during the war, and in the peacetime to come.

The First World War offered endless opportunity for charitable organizations, and there were many committed volunteers, like Mrs Pardee, prepared to devote time and energy to the cause.