Members of Weyburn’s Catholic Women’s League (CWL) are nine months into their project, “10 Months of Giving”, with a donation given to the Salvation Army’s food bank as their most recent donation.
Community Life committee chair Wendy Sidloski explained how this campaign began, and why the project is important to them.
“I found myself thinking about how at Christmas there is much thought given to those less fortunate. We see this in the form of Christmas hampers, Adopt a Family, etc. I thought, what about the rest of the year? I started to envision some kind of care package that could be given to those in need with a card to say it was from the CWL. I pictured children receiving this package and being delighted,” said Sidloski, adding that this was a way to “get their name out there, as in putting more of a Catholic presence into the community.”
The idea was taken to the CWL executive and it was suggested to do a monthly focus, with CWL members bringing something for a collection of the month to the monthly meetings, which would then be given to the Weyburn food bank to be distributed to their patrons in need. The food bank helps local families with much more than just dry non-perishables, so they decided to help fill in the gaps.
This idea was well received by the membership and through their steadfast generosity, with the latestdonation of 108 items, the new total is 1,033 items donated since last April.
“We call our initiative Ten Months of Giving. We started in April 2018 and skipped the summer months, hence the 10 months. For summer, we rented a city garden plot and grew vegetables for the food bank. Our president, Fran Messer, looked after and harvested the garden. For April, our focus was spring cleaning supplies, May was personal hygiene items, June was school supplies, September was school snacks, October was warm winter items, November was personal hygiene again, December was Christmas gifts for teens (a suggestion was warm, soft blankets) and January was fresh produce,” explained Sidloski, adding that it is each member’s choice to participate.
“I always confer with Jennifer of the food bank to see what is needed at the time and we decide together on a focus which I then present to the membership for approval. I count the donations, take a photo and place a sticker on the items that says, donated by the CWL of St. Vincent de Paul. I deliver the items to the food bank, and they distribute them to their patrons. The food bank is always so appreciative of our donations, with Jennifer sharing, ‘I wish you could see their faces’,” said Sidloski.
“I have received positive feedback from the CWL on this project. I believe it demonstrates the ‘power of many’, as we each give a little and it turns into a lot. I am very thankful to the members for their love in action,” she added.
