Women's Institutes look toward renewal

Source: AWI Collection

Transcript: Women's Institutes
look toward renewal
• The group has lost its
pioneer spirit and tends
to react to issues rather
than initiate new ideas,
says the president.
BY BARBARA DUCKWORTH
WESTERN PRODUCER STAFF
OLDS, Alta. — As the Federated
Women's Institutes of Canada ap­proaches
its centennial in 1997,
members are looking at ways to re-
Linde
new their organization and fill it
with vitality.
The group has lost its pioneer
spirit and tends to react to issues
rather than initiate new ideas, said
the president.
" If we are to grow'we are going to
have to make some changes or we
will cease to exist," warned Jacquie
Linde at the annual Alberta
Women's Institutes convention.
While friendships keep the or­ganization
going, women's insti­tutes
across
the country
worry about
their future as
members age
and fewer
young women
join because
of other com­mittments,
she
said.
Part of the
problem has been trying to offer
something for everyone to keep
members interested. The result is a
feeling of being stretched too tar,
she told delegates.
" If our organization was growing
at a steady pace each year we would
have no problems. But like most
groups, we lack members and the
° m e mKb e r s TIME and c we^ vp o > m m . t m e n t „ ^
said.
At the national level, the
women's institutes had four strate­gic
planning sessions this year to
reinvent themselves and set goals
and priorities.
Pressure government
One of the main priorities of the
national group is to flesh out a
campaign to pressure the govern­ment
for a national food policy.
Members will be provided with
questions and background infor­mation
to lobby government rep­resentatives
to show they are seri-.
ous. Canada can't survive if it loses
its ability to feed itself, said Linde.
Another long- range priority will
be children's issues. This will cover
laws affecting minors, education,
safety, abuse, children in develop­ing
countries, culture and affects of
media violence. New program
models will be developed for dis­tribution
to the provinces.
These ideas cost money and be­cause
of declining membership,
fewer government grants and low
return on investments, the na­tional
group's budget is running a
deficit. To rescue the group mem­bers
have set up the bail out buck­ets
( BOB) campaign, led by a
committee called " find us some
money."
Beryl Ballhorn, Alberta past-president
and national representa­tive,
said many local groups are
successful fundraisers who donate
the money to clubs and charities
but forget to support their own or­ganizations.
With the campaign,
which has a goal of $ 1 per member
a year, the groups hopes to alleviate
some of its financial troubles.
The national group has also de­veloped
a mission statement say­ing:
" The Women's Institute is an
organization that focuses on per­sonal
development, the family and
community action."