How did women fund-raise?
Women bought or provided clothes, tobacco, medicines, and other comforts for the soldiers that were sent overseas. One of the main companies that provided these ‘comforts’ was the Australian Comforts Fund. They packed all the goods up and sent them away as ‘comforts packages’. The packages also contained extra food like cakes, puddings, condensed milk, sugar and biscuits. To troops in the trenches, they would send teas and coffees as these were regarded as a luxury item. They also made new clothes, knitted socks and made pyjamas for some of the Allied refugees (Victoria Museum). During the war, almost 1.5 million pairs of socks were knitted.
The women helped to care for the returning soldiers through the Red Cross. Their homes were often used as kitchens and rest homes for the hospital ships. During the war, the Red Cross raised 12 million pounds to pay for all the work that the women did. In modern Australian money, 12 million pounds is equal to $874,424,136 (Yahoo, 2013).
The women also joined plenty of volunteer organisations like Red Cross (which quickly expanded and soon had branches in every state), Country Women’s Association, Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Australian Women’s National League, Voluntary Aid Detachment, Australian Comforts Fund and the Cheer-up society (Australia Government). These would either provide comforts like socks and extra food, or give the Australian military money. It was mainly middle class women who made packages for the men serving overseas. These packages contained soap, toiletries, food, games and pyjamas. Some methods the women used to fund-raise for the war included door knocks and fetes. Many women helped fund-raise as there were not enough jobs to be able to employ the entire female population.
They also donated money or helped build homes for wounded soldiers to recover in and raised money for the soldier’s families. The families found life difficult as the women had to earn enough money to buy all the necessary goods for the family, raise children and complete all the housework.
The women helped to care for the returning soldiers through the Red Cross. Their homes were often used as kitchens and rest homes for the hospital ships. During the war, the Red Cross raised 12 million pounds to pay for all the work that the women did. In modern Australian money, 12 million pounds is equal to $874,424,136 (Yahoo, 2013).
The women also joined plenty of volunteer organisations like Red Cross (which quickly expanded and soon had branches in every state), Country Women’s Association, Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Australian Women’s National League, Voluntary Aid Detachment, Australian Comforts Fund and the Cheer-up society (Australia Government). These would either provide comforts like socks and extra food, or give the Australian military money. It was mainly middle class women who made packages for the men serving overseas. These packages contained soap, toiletries, food, games and pyjamas. Some methods the women used to fund-raise for the war included door knocks and fetes. Many women helped fund-raise as there were not enough jobs to be able to employ the entire female population.
They also donated money or helped build homes for wounded soldiers to recover in and raised money for the soldier’s families. The families found life difficult as the women had to earn enough money to buy all the necessary goods for the family, raise children and complete all the housework.