The first large financial appeal was made to the people of the Maritime Provinces in the spring of 1916, when approximately $34,500 were raised for home and Overseas’ military work. During that year Association service was rendered to troops in eighteen different places in these Provinces. Each succeeding year saw most successful campaigns for larger sums of money, until 1918, when requirements began to decrease. Altogether about $679,600 were raised in the Maritime area and spent on military work at home and Overseas.
Large recreation buildings, which were much needed, were erected at Aldershot and Sussex Camps, each capable of accommodating close to 1,000 men. These were used to capacity, and were practically the only adequate recreation centres. A large hut was erected in the Naval Dockyard, Halifax, for the men of the navy and the merchant marine. It was destroyed by the explosion, but was replaced by a larger structure, and was the great social centre for the men of the navy and the merchant marine.
The large Red Triangle Hut, on Barrington Street, Halifax, was erected as a demobilization service to offset the inadequate housing facilities in Halifax, to provide meals and beds for returning men who had to remain in the city while waiting for trains or demobilization, to assist returned men to become re-established in civil life by providing them with wholesome meals and beds at prices within their means, to help men taking Government re-training courses and drawing barely enough money to live on, and to provide them with a clean, attractive recreation centre.
Other recreation huts were built and equipped at St. John, New Brunswick, and Cogswell Hospital, Halifax. A large building was leased and equipped as a Red Triangle Club at St. John, N.B. Clubs on a smaller scale were operated in Sydney, Windsor, Kentville, Nova Scotia, and Fredericton and Sussex, New Brunswick.
Work was carried on among the German prisoners of war at Amherst in return for which the German Government permitted the Y.M.C.A. to carry on work in certain camps in Germany where Canadians were confined. Only the work in the Internment Camps in Canada made this concession possible.
Co-operating with the Sailors’ Comforts’ Committee, Halifax, the Y.M.C.A. workers visited many ships of the merchant service and supplied the men with reading and writing materials, games, mufflers, sweaters, socks, gloves, mitts, underwear, etc. Concerts were frequently arranged for the crews on shore.
Uniform reports of activities and the attendance were not kept in the early days of the War, and it is impossible to arrive at anything like accurate estimates of the extent of some of the services rendered. The report of a few activities for the two years of maximum efficiency may serve to indicate, however, the great extent to which the men patronized the Y.M.C.A. military services.
| Activity. | Number. | Attendance. |
|---|---|---|
| Concerts | 694 | 84,550 |
| Social evenings | 815 | 112,800 |
| Moving Picture Shows (free) | 1,365 | 210,800 |
| Religious Services | 1,108 | 88,100 |
| Theatre parties arranged and conducted through courtesy of theatre managers, without charge to patients | 356 | 12,619 |
| Illustrated Lectures | 98 | 18,050 |
| Supplies Used. | |
|---|---|
| Magazines | 162,685 |
| Sheets of writing paper | 1,511,000 |
| Sex and health education booklets | 39,000 |
| Athletic goods | large quantities |
| Pianos in continual use | 22 |
| Billiard tables in continual use | 31 |
| Gramophones and records supplied continually | 50 |
| Moving picture machines in continual use | 9 |
| Reels of picture films per week provided, no charge made | 40 |
At the disembarkation piers, in co-operation with various women’s organizations, the Creche in Halifax, and the combined organizations in St. John, free hot or cold drinks and mixed biscuits were provided. At the Demobilization Centre, Halifax, co-operating with the G.W.V.A. Ladies’ Auxiliary, drinks and doughnuts or mixed biscuits were supplied free, and a six months’ membership ticket in any Y.M.C.A. was given to each man.