The ACW at St. Mary the Virgin, Blackburn

Dear friends,

COVID has shut a lot of our churches and social groups down, but you can’t keep a good group of women down. Here is a determined group of strong women who have adapted to the shutdown, so that they can keep on helping others. I asked their contact person Shirley if I could share their story, as encouragement to all the groups struggling out there, with advancing age, shrinking numbers, and now the pandemic.

Stay safe and keep healthy, until “normal” is back.  

Marni Crossley and Leslie Worden
[email protected]

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At St. Mary the Virgin, Blackburn, the ACW has a total of 10 active members. Prior to the restrictions necessitated by COVID, we met approximately eight times a year, either in members’ homes or at restaurants.

Normally, we raise funds though our annual craft and bake sale and through calendar sales. However, it was not possible to do so this year. As a result, our treasurer came up with the idea of asking our members to donate to our tea fee fund as a means to providing additional money for our various projects. We are delighted to report that our members contributed a total of $500, which will be used to support our December gift giving to our seniors and shut-ins and to our annual donations to Diocesan community ministries such as The Well, Centre 454 and Cornerstone.  

We have also made a contribution earlier this year to our overseas outreach project—the Day Spring Orphanage (now known as the Excellent Children) in Morogoro, Tanzania. We have provided annual donations to this project for the last 10 years. 

This year several members collected items for the Bales for the North, and we are holding on to them until we have more information about what will take place in 2021.  

We also enjoy the fellowship with our ACW members. 

Report by contact person,
Shirley Adams