SASKATOON – One women’s institute branch is living up to its stereotype with a knit-a-thon to mark Women’s Institute Day Feb. 19.
The Chilliwack branch of the British Columbia institute is inviting the public to sit with its members in the local mall and knit or crochet squares.
But it’s more than a publicity ploy, said Estelle Lefurgy, president of the B.C. Women’s Institute. It also helps fulfil a project undertaken by all 10 Canadian institutes to assist women in Zambia. The 27,000 institute members in Canada are collecting or making knitted or crocheted squares to send as raw material for Zambians to sew into blankets. The African women get paid for their work which gives them economic independence, said Lefurgy.
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“The members like it as a hands-on project because they’re not just handing over money.”
Women helping women is the theme of the Women’s Institute’s international body, the Associated Country Women of the World. Although the western institutes don’t work on regional projects, they share a national and international structure. All will be sending delegates to an ACWW meeting in New Orleans in early June.
Women’s Institutes began 99 years ago in Canada when a young mother near Hamilton, Ont., decided to form a social, support and education network after her son died from drinking unpasteurized milk. Her desire to share information and prevent similar tragedies led to a worldwide movement that now has six million women as members.
Most of the West’s Women’s Institute Day activities are low key this year in preparation for the larger centennial celebration in 1997.
Elizabeth Rushton, president of the Alberta institute, said her branch at Stony Plain is having a founder’s day tea. Usually the activity is held at local levels rather than provincial, and several districts hold their annual meetings around this time.
Local branches of the Saskatchewan institute also tend to carry the activity, said administrator Beth Ratzlaff. But this year, the provincial body has set up a number of activities to encourage new members or activate old ones.
The Saskatchewan group is working with the Women’s Entrepreneur Centre to hold workshops around the province on starting a business. The first was to be held Feb. 3 at Rosetown and a second is scheduled for Gull Lake later this month.
In Saskatchewan, the institute is also working with the Osteoporosis Society of Canada to hold seminars for its members warning them of the dangers of losing bone density as they age. The Zambian project is also a common activity in many branches.
In Manitoba, the provincial group is encouraging branches to write about their histories and activities and get these printed in their local newspapers.
On WI Day some members hold bake sales and some, like Manitoba institute president Audrey Grier, hold their meetings and socials at the local nursing home.
