By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Advance
In celebration of a century in Canada, the members of the Castor chapter of the Catholic Women’s League have made an incredible donation to the Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital in Castor.
Eight hand-made quilts were donated to the hospital for use in the palliative care room on the morning of Feb. 11th.
The quilts were made by members of the Castor Catholic Women’s League over a two-day period, and each one has been blessed by the father of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Father Roger Niedzielski, and is crested with the Catholic Women’s League emblem.
“Some of us didn’t know what we were doing to start with,” laughed Catholic Women’s League Member Carolyn Fetaz.
“It was a very a productive time. It was something we are happy to share with the community.”
The material for seven of the eight quilts was provided by Catholic Women’s League member Sheila Gorcak, and the eighth quilt was provided by member Judy Nichols. The quilts were all hand-made by Carolyn Fetaz, Eleanor Mah, Sheila Gorcak, Judy Nichols, and Castor chapter Catholic Women’s League President Karen Baker.
“I think it [the project] went really well,” said Baker.
“Everything just seemed to fall into place.”
Once the eight quilts are laundered and marked for the palliative care room they will be rotated through the room for patient and family use.
The Catholic Women’s League was founded in England in 1906 and brought to Canada by Edmonton resident Katherine Hughes in 1912.
Groups began to pop up around the country, and in 1920, all the separate groups were invited to send representatives to Ottawa for a conference, where the national League was formed.
As part of the centennial celebration, the national chapter of the Catholic Women’s League has been challenging the different provincial groups.
Activities include each diocesan council planting a tree and providing care packages to women’s shelters, and more.
“They had asked each council to come up with a centennial project,” said Baker.
“We chose one close to our hearts.”