By popular demand,
Norfolk County's political, religion and business leaders, their wives and
others, crowded into Simcoe's Town Council Hall 17 Nov 1914 to urgently establish and
organize a County-wide World War I Belgian Relief effort.
"It would be
difficult to parallel such an array of speakers in this part of the
world and the audience was given an opportunity of hearing a lot of talk
that must have set the dullest mind thinking as to what our duty
is."
Under the motto
"Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice," everyone in Norfolk was asked
to contribute as much money, food, clothes, blankets and shoes as
possible for shipment
to Belgium.
Frank Reid turned the
use of Lynnwood, the historic home of Duncan Campbell, over to a newly
formed committee of church women for use as a central depot. Local depots
were established in most other Norfolk communities. The objective:
half a dozen carloads of contributions on the rails to Montreal within a
month.
"... at Simcoe,
Port Dover, Delhi, Waterford and Vittoria there are canning factories; at
Port Dover there is one of the big underclothing factories of Canada, in
Simcoe there is a big blanket mill. The produce of these factories are
just what the Belgians need. The plan of the committee is to spend every
dollar of Norfolk money in the purchase of Norfolk products, made by
Norfolk labor."
Not everyone donated,
not every donation was publicly acknowledged in subsequent issues of
the Simcoe Reformer, and not all listed donors names were possible
to transcribe, but so many were that we listed them
in the B-M-D Etc. in hopes it may inform genealogy researchers whether
their ancestors were living in Norfolk at the time.
From page 1 of the 4
Mar 1915 Simcoe Reformer:
"The twelfth car shipped to Belgium from Norfolk County un the
auspices of the County Patriotic Aid Committee, got away as per
timetable on Thursday afternoon last. It was packed to the roof, and
contained over 50,000 pounds of food and clothing loaded at Delhi and
Simcoe."
