20 Newsboys Foundation 125 Years In the late 1800s Melbourne was a city obsessed with newspapers and teemed with boys selling papers on the streets. Melbourne’s newsboys were from poor families. Most could neither read nor write. With few items of clothing and often no shoes, the boys were sent out on the streets to help their families make ends meet. Sometimes they were their family’s only breadwinner. Many adults saw these boys as a menace. But the City Newsboys Society (later to become the Melbourne Newsboys Club) saw their potential. Newsboys believed they deserved to be treated with respect and dignity and given a chance to productively participate in the community and to build fulfilling lives. 1880s Melbourne is teeming with newsboys selling papers to a growing population 1893 City Newsboys Society is founded by William Forster 1897 Edith Onians volunteers at City Newsboys Society, teaching reading, writing and arithmetic Early 1900s City Newsboys Society provides daily hot meals, second-hand clothing, trade skills and recreational activities for newsboys 1903 City Newsboys Society moves to new premises at 20 Coromandel Place, off Little Collins Street Newsboys timeline Newsboys CEOs Edith Onians OBE (1897 - 1955) Norman Craig (1955 - 1975) Monie Harris OAM (1975 - 1986) Rhonda McNeill (1986 - 2006) Sandy Shaw (2006 - current)