by Mike Roberts, Church Historian
Our church has a long history of charitable giving, but often the results of those efforts are not witnessed personally by our membership.
This letter, dated October 30, 1934, illustrates so well how much these contributions mean in the lives of the recipients. It is written by Henrietta Utz, Supervisor of Social Services for the Department of Public Welfare and addressed to Mrs. Eunice Kavanaugh, President of the First Unitarian Church Women’s Missionary Alliance.
My dear Mrs. Kavanaugh,
The three little dresses received from the Women’s Missionary Alliance came just in time to help outfit the children of one of our families particularly dependent because the father is a patient in the Tuberculosis Sanatorium.
The man is a very good type, had only gone to the fifth grade of school and in an effort to better his condition, began attending night school the year he was married.
For thirteen years he attended night school five nights a week, and the fourteenth year he went on Saturdays also to make up credits in order that he might finish the high school course. A month before he was to receive his diploma he was forced to enter the Sanatorium.
Three of the four children have been patients at the Preventorium. The man was a porter in the Federal Building for a number of years and receives a small pension, which is supplemented by this Department, as it is necessary for the family to have wholesome food, milk and suitable clothing.