p. 13 | A Blessed Beacon Light by J. A. D.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 28, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 35.

A Blessed Beacon Light

By J. A. D.

to thousands of poor souls seeking a haven of refuge from the fiercer storms of life. It is the only institution of its kind south of Portland and west of the Rockies, and its life-saving efforts deserve practical recognition at the hands of our charitable people.

Without State or other tangible public support, it relies for existence to a large extent on large-hearted people through donations and contributions, and it is to be hoped these will be generously forthcoming to sustain the work of the mission. Donations of money, fruit, and food will be gratefully received, and if the friends of suffering humanity would contribute a monthly sum, small or large, say of twenty-five or fifty cents, or a dollar, a noble work could be sustained in the heart of a big city, where drowning cries for help are continually going out from those unable to swim to the shore of safety.

J. A. D.

SAN FRANCISCO HELPING HAND AND MEDICAL MISSION.

This mission at 641 Commercial Street is unique in its facilities for coping with the many wants and infirmities of the poor and penniless. Situated on the confines of Chinatown and the notorious “Barbary Coast,” in the storm center of vice and crime, the mission has done a wonderful work of charity since its opening in February, 1898, over three years ago.

Facts and Figures.

Within this period more than a million and a half dishes of substantial hygienic food have been served, in addition to nearly half a million free dishes given the indigent poor.

More than 160,000 clean, comfortable beds and an equal number of free baths have been furnished, and 60,000 free beds and free baths given to the homeless and shelterless.

Nearly 7,000 free medical treatments have been given and 250 surgical operations performed.

Large quantities of clothing donated to the mission have been distributed among the needy, by means of which not only were the naked clothed, but many worthy persons down in misfortune were enabled to fill situations suited to their vocations and abilities.

Permanent Positions

have been secured for more than 1,500 men, and more than 30,000 furnished temporary employment, thus tiding them over the acute hardships incidental to the friendless poor of a large city. Many poor families have been helped, and many broken homes and broken hearts re-united through the Gospel preached in the mission chapel.

Jails and prisons have been visited; ex-convicts have been furnished encouragement and employment, and a quarter of a million pages of wholesome literature distributed. In October, 1899,

The Helping Hand Magazine

was established. Its free distribution among the poor and the prisoners has had its appreciable effect on a class most in need of a helping hand, and there are daily calls for “more copies.”

Such a large scale of charitable work of a non-sectarian character has not been successfully carried out without much sacrifice on the part of the good friends of the mission and of the resident mission help, who with merely nominal salaries to a few, and no salary at all to many, have given their time and abilities to the cause of God.

Help Needed

Even with these sacrifices the mission has not been able under the most economical management to keep out of debt, owing to the numerous cases of appealing distress at its doors, and many deserving appeals have to be refused for lack of means. At present the mission is trying to meet an indebtedness of $400 incurred in its vast charitable labors of three years and three months.

If the mission were run on strictly commercial principles, it could be readily made self-sustaining; but this was not the object of its founders, nor is it likely to be. The poor we have always with us, and the poor are always in want. The Helping Hand Mission has been—