"Honour Medal" Soviet Peace Fund.

[Taz]

It seems there is no individual membership to either the Soviet Peace Committee or to the Soviet Peace Fund. A school, depending on its size, elects 9-11 members; a large factory 17-25. So is this a collective award?

The Soviet Peace Fund

The Soviet Peace Fund was founded in 1961 because of the large donations people were making to the Soviet Peace Committee. The Board of Directors is elected from its founding member organizations, including the Soviet Peace Committee, the Red Cross, the Soviet of Friendship, the Soviet Asia Africa Solidarity Society, and others. In each branch office there are two or three full-time staff; an accountant/manager, a combined executive secretary of the Soviet Peace Fund and the Soviet Peace Committee, and an office secretary. Only low income groups receive grants to help them finance their peace activities; wage earners are expected to finance their own. The small staffs are assisted by thousands of volunteers.

The funds are used to grant humanitarian aid to regions which are affected by hunger, war, and natural disasters. eg: disaster relief for Ethiopia, donations to Nicaraguans; kindergarten and medical facilities in Vietnam, aid to Palestinian victims of bombing in Lebanon, supplies to refugees in Kampuchea. Funds to liberation movements are used strictly for humanitarian reasons. "No guns or arms are bought. Only such things as textbooks and hospitals."

Eddie