Lauren McGregor

Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit Lauren McGregor

It started with a cartoon--"Forgotten," by Tom May--in which a poor child, too young and innocent to understand why she had not received a Christmas present from Santa, weeps over an empty stocking. It ran on Christmas Day in 1908 in the Detroit Journal, where it caught the attention of key Detroit businessmen. Deeply moved, they entered into a solemn pact to do all within their power to prevent any Detroit child from being "forgotten." In 1914, under the leadership of James J. Brady, himself a former newsboy, the Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit was formed. This year, the fund celebrates 100 years of making sure there is "no kiddie without a Christmas." One such fortunate kiddie was retired Detroit News columnist Pete Waldmeir, a longtime Goodfellow who generously agreed to write the introduction to this book, Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit: 100 Years.