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FED::!:RAL WORK AGEHCY
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
:-,,
APR 29 1940
For Relea.se t o Newsp apers
Su.nclEJ;)' , Ap ril 28 , 191!.()
VP A TO PAP..TI CIPATE
IN CHILD HEALTE DAY 03SERVLNCE MAY 1
Worker s on WP.A :health and recrea tion projects t hrou6 l1out
the cou:ntr ;r will cooperate with local a'llt ho ri .ti es next Wednesa_c.1.J National Ch ild Health Dn,y -
i n foc~s i n~ public attention unon the
needs of the nation I s chilclren for acl.ec1uate diet , medical ca re and.
recr eation services , Mrs . l!'lorence Kerr , Assistan t Commissione r in
charge of Professional and Service ?rojects , announced. t oday .
I n thousands of corrum.miti os across the country , Hr,; • Kerr
so.id., WPA schoo l lunch :projects , medical and dental clinics , p;:i,rk,
:pla3rground and. other recreational and nelfare p rojects will bo open
for Y:JUblic inspection .
It is hoped thereoy , she said , to stimulate
popular interest in the efforts 'being :nadc on many fr onts to -o ro,11ote
th e ,voll 'being of underpri viloged c:1ildrei1 and to red-ice America ' s
high infant mortality rat e .
"For several yea:s th e W?A h:,,s 'been one of the lead.inc::; contributors to child health and welfare 11 , M:cs . Kerr said ,
11 Tl1rcU(;h
a
vari c: t ~, of p rojects lo cat ea. in almost ever y cc:mmuni ty in the lanc:L
we have aided li teralI;:1 millions of ch ild;. en and. mothers in the last
1
five years .
"In cooperation with local and state h ,;;alth authori tics
we hope to make this seventeenth annual observance of National Child
Heal th Day one of the most effective on record..
:By awakenin~ the
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public to the need for botter facili ti c s for und.or p ri vileroc. c:1i10.ro11
and uot:io rs wo hope to st::.mulate greater r,u~-rport for tho Ft.[onci0s
sup~,lying those much needed. services .
11
I n a procJ.am.Fttion iss,wd several weoks ago callinr; for a
unit cd obsorvE.nco of Child Hoa.1th D<:iy , Prosic,.ont Ro osev elt said :
11
I her eby call upo n the !)Cop lo of tho Unit od Staks to
consider tho r ecommondn.tions for conserving tho heal th of chil6.ron
m2.do by tho Whit e House Conf orenco on C:·:il dron in a Domocr.::.~cy o,nd. to
take tho st ep s needed to st inengthon n.ncl e::tond lwal th p rot ec ti o n ana.
medical care fo r mothers and child:::-on in evGry comrnunity .
11
Mrs . Kerr point ea. ot,.t thu.t whil p, the Childr on 1 s Buro.:n: of
tho Dope,rtmont of Labor has token the l oD.d in t he past in s~1 onsoring
Ch ild. Roal th Day , it had boon dccid.od this yonr t o leave the o-oso rvan.co in th o hands of the heal th aut b.ori ti c s in tho i ndi vi dc.1::·. l s tc,t o s .
Sh e ur{;od St;:,,tc :Directors of WPA Prof ess i onal and Servic e Proj ects
to coo·oo ro.tc with tf'10s0 aut::01·i tios t o t he full(lst oxtont in r:1c..::inc;
the occ[)..sion a success .
Tho rec ent inve ntor;-/ of ;1hysic,~,1 accom-r:,lishments on -:TPA
:proj ects , she continuo,l, mak0s it possible to illustr:-tto offoct::.vcly
th o sco:0e of WPA n.cti vi ti e s in ooh.::.'..lf of childr en .
One of tho o:.108 t
i m:;io rtn.nt of those , sho so.id, is the p ro g r a.m for :p rovi d.inc f ree sc~1ool
lunches for the c h ildr en of underp ri vilogod famUi 0. s .
I n four o,nd
ono-hnlf years of o:9erntion , IErs . Karr declC1.red, more them 386, 000 t OOO
lunche s have been serv ed undor this IJ r ogra..'Il .
A one day SOJll\) linr; of
program activity during Jrurunry sho':;ed a total of 1 , 129 , 420 fr oo
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lunches p r ep::.r ed and served by WPA worl:or s i n · 1:).. , 1 90 schools •
Heo..lt h s e rvices m.:tcle :.wo,iL:tb l o t h r ouc;h tho o.ssistc,nce of
1JPA f o r o. two weok pe riod in J o.nuary included cientr.,l tr ont::1c,11"cs c'.Jld
cxoninc..tions for 27 , 301 ch ildr en ; modicD..l oxa.rnino.ti ons a na. tr r:2. t mcnts in clinics for 26 , 079 ; 1 2 , 178 home tr o::i.t ment s n.nd ox,:\minc.tio.rn ,
o.nd 69 , 628 cx3l11ine1.tions a nd tr o.::,tmont s in school s , s he s.::dd .
l: eo::_:ii nG o.idc s -
tra ined homom,:J.ce rs -
House-
nss ist e d 57 , 11 6 f xnil i cs in
which th o mothe r vms ill or .::,bsont dur ing DocoJ7lbor .
I n t ho fom• o.nd
ono-hcJ.f y en,rs cove red by t ho invento ry , more t h.:i..:.1 17 , 000 , 000
ind i v i c:.uo.l homo vi ci ts wer e mnd.e by -~he housckecp i n,:; a i des .
Parent educo.. ti on Cllld hom om.:.1.ki ng clo..s scs co1,duct cc1 Tu'1 dc :..·
t ho Educo..tion Progr am ho.ve boon o.ttondod
po.1·ents , Mrs • Ke rr continued..
Th o \rn
h/3.VC
oy
mo r e th.:ui 240 , 000
aff or ded. expert instru.cticm
to Bothers in c h ild c a r e , nutriti on nnd hyg i onc :J.nd in tho effic i en t
c onduc t of th e homo .
Sowi n1-; p roj e cts h::.v o produced rnore th,:,.:1 22 , 000 , 000
i nfan-cs l go.rmo nt s which ho.v o been a.i st ribu'ccd f r oo of cho..r co t o ~oo r
f::,nili cs .
Rocr eo..ti on.::t.1 fo.cili t i e s p r ovi ded by YTPA during tho four
o.na. ono...half year pe riod. i nclu de the cons tructi on o r i m:9rovomont o f
10 , 169 playgrounds , 6 , 632 pt),rks , 4 , 489 a t hl e tic f i ol d.s .::end. 91 0
swiL1Di ng p ools .
A c he ck of r ocre:i ti on.::cl c.cti viti o s d.uring .::c sin-,;l c
week i n F eorua r y r evenl od
.:1
tot c.,l of 334, 000 pt.rtici po..nt - hourn D,t
chil clrcn t s p l ay c enters sup 1;rvis ec1 by TT?A workorn .
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