[4] They chose their name from the parable of Jesus feeding the multitude with loaves of bread and fish, in which Jesus reminds his disciples to leave nothing behind, “to gather up the fragments that remained, that nothing be lost.”[3] Their original aim was to meet the increasing needs of the widows and orphans quickly cropping up in the wake of the War of 1812.
[4] Since the beginning, the Fragment Society has been particularly concerned with pregnant women, and adopted the practice of creating layettes for needy mothers.
[1] The Fragment Society purchases the clothes that they give away as donations, with the exception of layettes, which members sew at meetings.
[3] They have been known to occasionally give aid in the form of scholarships or fundraising, but only very rarely.
[3] Their charitable efforts are mostly focused on the greater Boston area, but in times of national emergency, their aid work has been more widespread.