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Caring & Sharing .By Arrhena Hacker AltJthe Area Conventions in l998. I re- orted to delegates that we hoped to have the new Handbook ready for distribu- tion by theend ofFebruary 1999. Iam sorry to tell you that the Handbook is not ready. We tried. When I picked the end of Febru- ary. Iwas told I was pushing it, But, Ifelt that the membership wanted it as soon as ' possible. and so we tried. It didn‘t happen. When will the Handbook be ready? Right now it is with the Board Directors and the Constitution Committee who are putting in long hours reviewing it. Everyone wants it to be as accurate as possible, and with all the changes that have occurred the job is demanding and timevconsuming. I feel I cannot give a definite completion date. But, rest assured, we are pushing to comâ€" plete it as quickly as possible. The Provincial Board of Directors met once under the new structure and have also .ad one teleconference. There was a lot of (or) J discussion and input and a great deal was accomplished. Everyone believes that after a year of working out the challenges pre- sented by this new structure. that the Women‘s Institute organization can only move forward. Yes, there are challenges. But I truly beâ€" lieve that great things are in store for our organization. In fact, listening to the dis- cussion around the table, I am excited by the prospect of where we are going and what can happen in the next few years. Thank you to those who put their names forward to work on the Canadian Coordi- nating Committee for ACWW 200l. The core committee is in place and those chairs needing committee members will be se- lecting people from their own locality. If you get a call, please accept. Our organizav tion is aboutpersonal growth - we grow and learn as we accept new challenges. Ontario is the host of the ACWW 200] Triennial Conference and there is much work and planning to be done. There are preâ€"conference workshops for delegates from developing countries. ACWW gets the participants to Canada, but their accom- modation. food, transportation and workshops while in Ontario is our responi Big Lake WI Makes Big Contribution The Big Lake Women‘s Institute may be a small group, but they recently made an outstanding contribution to a local hos- pital fund raising campaign. Rita Moody. President of the Big Lake WI, presented a first installment donation of 515.000 to the .Mindemoya Hospital Renovation. The money was raised through the sale of a cook book, and the response from the community has been overwhelming. The cook book is dedicated to the mem- ory of long-time Institute member Rae Leeson and contains many of her own wonderful recipes. The project was a year long effort spearheaded by Carole Mid- daugh who contacted local people to submit their favourite recipes. A team of .olunteers typed. proofread and under- sibility. We have our heads together to think of ways to raise the funds necessary to put on a good conference. Ifyou have an idea, please forward it to the Provrncial Office. We would love to hear from you! This is your opportunity - the members ofOntario - to help some ofthe ladies from developing countries learn a new sklll to take back to their country. This is also what we are about ~ community action. The world is our community - are we willing to help? The eyes of the world will be turned to Ontario. so lets show them what we are capable of, I would encourage you to start planning now to attend the Triennial Conference in June 200! in Hamilton. Ontario, What an opportunity to learn about ACWW and to meet and listen to the delegates from other lands. See for yourselfwhat your donations are accomplishing. The opportunity for Ontario to host this world conference again will be a long time in coming. So think about it. talk about it and plan to attend. See you there! Arthena Hacker is the President of the Federated Women's Institute; of Ontario. She can be reached at RR 7, Richard! landing ON FOR 710. Phone (705)246723 77, Fax (705)246-1235 took the distribution of the cook book to local stores. More than 1600 of the 2000 copies printed last June have been sold. Submitted by Betty Heis, Public Relations Officer, Rig Lake WI. Manitoulin East, From left to right are Manitoulin Health Centre Executive Director Bruce Cunningham, Lois WhitE. Alva-Ir! Nighswander, Irene Montgomery, Vvunne Schut, Mindemoya Hospital Renovation Committee Chair 5am Bondi, Big Lake WI Presi- dent Rita Moady, Carole Middaugh, WillieI Keller, PRO Betty Hols, Moira Elsley, Marie Tenn and Shirley Cooper. Home 8. Country, Spring I999 3