In 1941, NCJW Dallas lent 84 workers to the largest volunteer project ever attempted in Dallas. Soundex was the Council of Social Agencies’s massive effort to codify 300,000 case histories. The project spanned over eleven weeks, it amassed 2,000 volunteer hours and instituted an efficient, updated filing system.

NCJW Dallas continued to sponsor English classes for immigrants and, by 1941, over 90 students took part, reflecting the influx of refugees from the Holocaust. In 1935, the Children’s Aid Committee started as a response to “the desperate plights of our co-religionists in far off lands,” and we were asked to find homes for two children. In 1939, three children were placed in homes and supported by NCJW Dallas, some becoming quite succesful.

Since the entry of so many women into the workforce during the war had led to a massive and urgent day care demand, in 1942, NCJW Dallas provided twenty-six volunteers who worked five days a week at the Silberstein Day Nursery. This set a precedent in an area where we would become innovative leaders.

The WWII years saw a continuation of services inherited from the previous decade. 115 members made surgical dressing and stitched 7,000 garments. Volunteers staffed the Silberstein Nursery. Volunteers sold War Bonds and worked with the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Defense as well as the Aircraft Warning Center. The demands on the Milk Fund were met with 3,000 quarts annually. At the end of the decade, almost 25,000 quarts reached needy families each year.

NCJW Dallas’ membership in the Texas Society for Mental Health uncovered a new health services area of concern. Recognizing that isolation and loneliness were among the elderly’s most severe problems, in 1946, we proposed our first major project for seniors. In 1947, the Golden Age Recreational Club was officially opened.

In 1948, in seeking a relaible funding stream, NCJW Dallas sought opened Your Thrift Shop with one hundred-fifty volunteers.

Presidents

1940-1941 Felice Bromberg*
1941-1943 Marguerite Marks*
1943-1943 Ann Berwald*
1943-1944 Mayme Janow*
1944-1946 Fannie Kahn*
1946-1948 Mildred Sack*
1948-1950 Rosine Orff*

* of blessed memory