Greenbelt News Review, December 1, 1960
An unprecedented holiday gift CARE campaign sponsored by the Greenbelt community will provide food packages for Tibetan refugees who have fled the Chinese Communist invasion of their country. Presently harbored in India, their plight has been previously little publicized.
Organized by Seymour Kaplan, 71-H Ridge Road, who is serving as permanent chairman, the campaign has received the enthusiastic support of every church group in the city plus leading civic organizations. Representatives of these groups have formed the committee which will direct the campaign. All promotional expenses will be paid by the Twin Pines Savings and Loan Association. An unusual feature is that no formal solicitation of funds will be made.
The Greenbelt drive ties in with CARE’s regular holiday gift campaign, in which people are encouraged to send a food package abroad in the name of someone else in place of a gift. This helps to solve the problem of the long Christmas shopping list. The purchaser of the CARE package sends a special greeting card provided by CARE to notify the person that a gift package has been sent in their name.
The new twist, which has never before been attempted by CARE, is that all of the food packages bought by local residents will be distributed to one particular needy group abroad. The refugees from Tibet will be told of Greenbelt’s great concern about their difficult situation and the city’s desire to feed as many of them as possible.
Since Tibet is on the border of India, the Tibetans have fled into that country, which unfortunately is presently struggling hard to feed its own population. Although India is doing what it can to help the refugees, the CARE packages are urgently needed to maintain a subsistence diet for the Tibetans. Lodged in remote villages on the border, they have not been noticed by the world.
As Kaplan explained it, “A gift of a dollar or more sent in the name of a friend on your shopping list – instead of a necktie or some other item that may never be used – will not only help people who have received little or no aid from the outside world but will also strike a blow against the threatening menace of Communism.” He pointed out that one dollar would pay for the supplementary feeding of a family of four for one month.
Each representative on the campaign committee will disseminate information to their own organization and collect orders for the food packages. Twin Pines will also accept orders. In addition, boxes will be placed around town and in the Coop food store for those who simply wish to contribute money toward the campaign.
All money collected will be deposited in a special account in Twin Pines, with the books open for public inspection. In addition to the standard CARE holiday gift card, insert cards will be provided by Twin Pines which will tell the recipient of the gift card about the special purpose of the Greenbelt campaign.
No goal in terms of dollars bought or food packages purchased has been set for the campaign, which will run through December 31.
CARE Drive for Tibetans in Final Phase
– Greenbelt News Review, December 22, 1960
Greenbelt’s campaign to aid Tibetan refugees in India moved into its final phase this week as local organizations cooperate in sharing gifts with those in need overseas.
Churches, co-ops, the American Legion, the News Review, and others are helping to get the word around town. Ministers from their pulpits, bulletin boards, and the representatives of the various cooperating organizations are pitching in.
The idea is appealing. You are able to honor a friend or a relative by sending a gift of life – of food to the hungry who have fled Communist oppression. Your friend receives from you a card stating that a package has been sent in his name via CARE. A Tibetan gets the CARE food package. Every cent collected in Greenbelt goes into the CARE package fund; all the local expenses of the Greenbelt CARE drive are being borne by Twin Pines Savings and Loan Association.
A CARE food package costs $1. You may pay the $1 (as many as you wish) to the representative of your organization – he or she has the cards you send to those in whose name the gift is sent.
Greenbelt Drive Collects $636 for Tibetans
– Greenbelt News Review, January 12, 1961
Tibetan refugees from the Communist conquerors of their country soon will receive $636.23 worth of CARE food packages with the heartfelt good wishes of the people of Greenbelt. This voluntarily contributed sharing of our holiday meals is the result of Greenbelt’s 1960 year-end CARE campaign carried on in the spirit of the holiday season.