Women Helping Women

By Rev Judy Wagdin

Lanark County Interval House (LCIH) in Carleton Place, ON is a shelter where women and their children who are fleeing from domestic violence and abuse can go for shelter and assistance. It was established in 1980 and has a capacity of 15 beds and when needed a local hotel will provide a room or two. Government provides some financial assistance with lodging, and local businesses donate financially occasionally as well.

I am a member of Beta Sigma Phi — an international women’s friendship network, offering social, cultural and community enrichment for women of all ages. One of my fellow sorority members went shopping in Carleton Place and entered a ladies’ shop called As Good As New. This store, run entirely by dedicated volunteers, collects quality women’s clothing to sell. All proceeds go to Interval House to cover its costs, such as food, heat, hydro, and all other household costs.

As a sorority of 13 women, we have a mission — to help other women. This year with the pandemic, job loss etc., the cases of domestic abuse have increased at an alarming rate, so upon learning more about LCIH, we elected to direct our energies to help as much as we could.

Here are a few of our activities.

At Christmas:

• 13 beautiful ‘shoeboxes’ were filled with necessities for women and children
• 9 boxes of new dishes to be given out when their clients leave LCIH and start life over
• Huge boxes of jewelry, accessories, purses, scarves, gloves, etc.
• 2 large bags of quality clothing for As Good As New store
• Donation of $565.00 profits from a Candy Cane Bazaar

In February:

• bags of sleepwear, pants, T-shirts, nighties, slippers, and purses donated for the women and children at LCIH.
• 2 more large bags of clothing to As Good As New store.
• Clergy Support Memorial Church Micro-Grant application. I applied, first time ever, for $500 to match the funds our group had already donated and it was accepted!

Winnie the Pooh once said to Piglet, “any day spent with you is my favourite day.”

Rev Judy always says, “any day I officiate a wedding is my favourite day.”

My sorority now says, “any day we can help other women in need is our favorite day.”

Thank you Clergy Support Memorial Church!