which had been named elected John 0. Rivall as chairman, Impi Rautavirta as secretary and A. A. Koskinen as treasurer. Three days later an appeal was made to all local Finnish organizations to participate and to support the relief program: at a meeting at the Elks Hall, representatives appeared from the Finnish churches, the Kaleva, the temperance society, the North Star Civic Club and the Cooperative Club as well as representatives of various American organizations and municipal agencies. Plans were made for each organization to collect as much money as possible from within their own groups; in addition, benefits were arranged, together with coffee parties, suppers, dances, movies, athletic competitions, bazaars, knitting bees. Some sauna proprietors and business men donated all their income from specified days to the relief fund; merchants donated given percentages of their sales. Indeed, all proposals were gratefully accepted --except one: according to Edith Koivisto, one local tavern offered to donate 20 % of its receipts in similar fashion, but the committee decided that "nobody was to be led to temptation, even if the cause was help to Finland." In addition to money raising functions, there were many drives for clothing, including several very successful `baby showers,' with two big crates of infants' clothing collected on one single occasion. During the Winter War there was also an active American committee for Finnish relief, with George Fisher as chairman. This committee did very effective work, but according to Arne Halonen (in Minnesota's Help to Finland) some 75 to 80% of the total results were due to the Finns of Hibbing.

The war interrupted Finnish relief activity for several years, but in 1945 a meeting was called to reactivate it. In the new committee, Impi Rautavirta now became chairman, Amanda Wuopio vice-chairman, Mrs. Charles Sandberg secretary, with Ida Salo as her alternate, and with A. A. Koskinen continuing as treasurer. Activity was carried out along patterns previously established, and soon considerable sums of money were being forwarded to the Help Finland organization. Activity was continued up to the end of 1949, by which time, according to Edith Koivisto, the sum of $10,106.04 in cash alone was raised, a considerable sum for one single, small community. In addition, the value of gifts and clothing packages sent was also large. And finally, of great significance to the donors themselves was the realization that, in spite of the political and religious differences among them, they could work together without friction when the cause was one which was dear to them all equally.

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