Trapp Family Austrian Relief, Inc. is an initiative founded by Georg von Trapp and Maria von Trapp.
In January 1947, Major General Harry J. Collins turned to Georg von Trapp and Maria von Trapp in Stowe, Vermont, pleading for help for the Austrian people, having seen the residents of Salzburg suffer when he had arrived there with the famed 42nd Rainbow Division after World War II. The Trapp Family founded the Trapp Family Austrian Relief Inc. on impulse, with the headquarters in Stowe, Vermont. Founders Georg and Maria von Trapp took on the posts of first and second chairpersons.Monsignore Dr. Franz Wasner was appointed treasurer.
"The country that gave to the world Haydn, Schubert, Mozart, and Silent Night will perish if we do not help them. Everybody knows about the situation the greater European countries are in. But few people can imagine what is happening in Austria, whose citizens are about to lose courage and hope."