A proposal to associate young people with the Red Cross by the Ladies Committee of Monrovia was submitted to the Vth International Conference of the Red Cross in 1892. 

This proposal was turned down – proof that it had to take time for this idea to gain ground.   However, on national level, several successful attempts had been made to involve young people in Red Cross work. In the Netherlands during the Boer War, school children made bandages out of old linen.  In Canada, during the Boer War, School children worked for Red Cross under the title Maple Leaf.  In the USA, children and young people helped the American Red Cross alleviate the suffering of the San Francisco earthquake victims.  All in a span of 36 years.