Through good

times and bad

the Newsie
has persevered

or all of its roaring, the 1920s didnt

look that much like a party at Gatsbys.
Good times are never universal.
There were a lot of Americans in need in 1920,
the primordial year for the Good Fellow Fund,
and the same is true today.
Stanley R. Banyon, editor and publisher of
Herald-Palladium ancestor The News-Palladium, began the fund during the slump that followed World War I. He had been approached by
Cora Mull, who led United Charities, with tales
of poor people suffering during the holiday season. Banyon reacted by launching the Empty
Stocking Club.
The club proved popular but still came up short
of meeting needs.
Like so many charity drives, it helps to sell a
product. In 1930, Banyon and Benton Harbor
Mayor John Strefling created the Newsie, a special N-P edition carrying the shorthand name
for young newspaper carriers.
Strefling, who had been an Exchange Club
president, pressed fellow club members to sell
Newsies.
They answered the call in the fashion Americans have come to expect from service clubs:
With enthusiasm.
The first sale netted $500, serious money in the
Great Depression.
It was the era of bank failures, and the 1931
collection disappeared in such a failure. The N-P
covered the loss.
The Newsie grew in popularity in the years afterward. The Lions clubs signed on in the 1950s.
The drive last year collected $33,828, a bit short
of the $35,000 goal.
The record was set in 2013 at $37,802.

A truck is loaded with fruit baskets of goodies after the 1936

Good Fellow Fund drive.

Ally Jarvis, from Coloma High School, sells copies of the Newsie edition in December 2014 near downtown Coloma.

Larry Martin sells copies of the Newsie edition in December 2014 at the intersection of M-139 and Napier
Avenue in Benton Township.

If youre in Michigans Fruit Belt, then fruit baskets are the way to
deliver at Christmas. This is from the 1937 Good Fellow Fund drive.

The Newsie sales army marches through Benton Harbors Pipestone

Street slush in this 1960s photo. Please, no jokes about slush fund.

Ally Martinez, from Coloma High School, sells copies of the Newsie edition in December 2014 near downtown Coloma.