LITTLE CURRENT—Last week the Little Current United Church (LCUC) hosted the Sudbury District Presbyterial United Church Women annual spring rally, bringing together UCW members from across Sudbury and the North Shore to network, exchange ideas and sing.
“We had over 50 women, representing eight different areas across the district, attend our spring rally last Wednesday,” explained LCUC UCW co-president Helen Gordon. “It was a great day socializing, singing and everyone really enjoyed our guest speaker Leslie Fields. It was our year to host and we were really thrilled with how the day went, though it’s always a good day—a chance for everyone to recharge their batteries.”
After morning registration, the UCW held a book review discussion, followed by lunch at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church across the road, prepared by the Anglican Church Women (ACW).
In the afternoon, guest speaker Leslie Fields discussed the Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW) organization, drawing on her own experiences as a volunteer with the organization.
“I have been very involved with this organization (SCAW), and still am as a travelling volunteer,” said Ms. Fields during her discussion with the UCW. “The innocence of a child is something we all hold dear, because all children deserve to feel loved, safe and protected, but not all are.”
Ms. Fields explained that the organization was founded by Murray Dryden who grew up during the depression and that as a travelling salesman he learned what it was like to be deprived of a safe, dry sleep.
Through a hobby later in his life of taking photos of sleeping children around the world, Mr. Dryden became passionate about ensuring that all children should be entitled to a comfortable bed and pajamas, leading him to start SCAW in 1970 with the distribution of 50 ‘bed kits’ in Pune, India.
Ms. Fields described the bed kits cost $35 each, and that they contain sleeping items needed for the children in the intended country such as a mattress or hammock, sheet or blanket, pajamas and anything else that fits the budget that the SCAW ground organizers in the area think would be beneficial.
Since the organization was founded, over 688,600 bed kits have been distributed to children in over 10 countries.
The UCW members commented following the presentation on what a great program it was.
The topic of SCAW was carried over during LCUC Pastor Jane Blannin-Bruleigh’s closing worship
