CWF Projects and Annual Schedule

Our planned CWF meetings and projects are as follows.

September

Our CWF "year" begins with a Salad Supper, the second Wednesday of September at 6:30 p.m., followed by a meeting or program (contact church for details) and worship. For this program we often invite a guest speaker or group. Salad Suppers are always held in the Church building. Salad Suppers are "pot luck style". You are invited to bring a salad to feed 10 or so people, if you can; if inconvenient, just be a guest. There's always plenty. The evening will end sometime between 8:30 and 9:30, but those who need to leave earlier may.

October

From October through May the meetings are almost always the second Wednesday of the month, beginning at 10:30 a.m. through noon, followed by a luncheon. However, sometimes the meetings are on a Tuesday evening if the hostess needs it to be.  In October we will finalize plans and preparations for the annual Craft Fair. Click on the links to the Craft Fair to learn more about our annual MCC Craft Fair (a fundraiser).  We conclude our planning session with a devotional (sometimes that includes worship highlights from the Pennsylvania CWF/DWM Retreat which is usually in September). Craft-making to follow either the devotional or the luncheon, if we are making anything to sell.  The Craft Fair is always on the third Saturday of October, from 9 a.m. through 4 p.m.  See our Craft Fair web pages for more pictures, details, answers to questions and the registration page.

outside vendors at craft fair  craft fair inside the building

November

The project for November is to fill "Christmas Stockings" (made of netting) with toiletries and niceties for some residents of Fair Acres, a state-supported home for the elderly in (Granite Run) Delaware County. The Christmas stockings for women are red netting and are to contain several (but not all) of the following: Hand lotion, body powder, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, comb, shampoo, soap, wash cloth, socks,  jewelry, tiny stuffed animal, or playing cards. The green stockings, for men, are to contain several of these items:  shaving lotion in a plastic bottle, toothbrush, toothpaste (within their original boxing/packaging), comb, shampoo, soap, socks, stocking cap, pen, notebook, or playing cards. We will accept donations of either some of these items or money by the Sunday before this meeting (for assembly at the meeting). Grocery bags full of the Christmas Stockings are taken to Fair Acres after the meeting, in time for their Christmas parties in early December.  [Fortunately, other churches are also doing this program, since we cannot possibly make enough for everyone.]

This meeting is frequently held at the Johnson's home on Tuesday evening beginning at either 6:30 or 7:00 p.m.  Dinner is provided before we fill the stockings. 

Christmas stockings  Christmas stockings

See our November 2012 Minutes for more photos of this project.

December

We fill Ziploc "goody bags" with cookies and candies to take to The Life Center of Delaware County, which is a shelter for the homeless. The business meeting usually begins at 10:30 a.m. (but sometimes is held in the evening instead), followed by a devotional. We will work on filling the goody bags instead of having a program.
packing goody bags  packed goody bags

See our December 2012 Minutes for more photos.

January

We collect money for School kits which are sent to Church World Service.

Sometimes we ladies collect items for School Kits to send them to Church World Service, but our Children's Group has often taken over this good work. Either way we still collect money for the project.  Donations accepted in any amount. Church World Service needs $11 to make each kit, but some years our kids put together the kits themselves to send in March, with the project being organized by the leaders of the Youth Group. Donations can go to our minister, Rev. Janet Moore; the children will do the shopping. Contents of each kit:

  • One pair blunt-tip children's scissors
  • Pads or notebooks of ruled paper approximately 8 1/2” x 11”, containing 150-200 sheets of paper
  • One 30 centimeter ruler (12 inch)
  • One pencil sharpener
  • Six new pencils with eraser tops
  • One large eraser
  • Twelve sheets colored construction paper
  • One box of 24 crayons
  • One canvas cloth bag, approximately 12” x 14”, with cloth handles (A.C. Moore)

CWS school kit guide  school kits in the Dominican Republic

(Instructions from CWS to us: Pack these items in the canvas cloth bag, fold the top over, and secure with two large rubber bands. Processing/shipping: $1.00.  You can also provide School Kits by donating $11.00 per kit.)  http://www.weekofcompassion.org/pages/resources/giftsoftheheartkits.html

February

We make heart pillows for a local Hospital.*  Heart pillows are firmly-packed pillows sewn in the shape of hearts, to be used by post-heart-surgery patients to hold against their stitches when coughing. This meeting has a devotional time, but no program, because we spend that time to work on the pillows both before and, if needed, after the luncheon. Cloth for the pillows has already been cut out and sewn together in the shape of a heart, so they only need to be stuffed and sewn shut.  For the last several years 5 to 7 of us have made 20 pillows in a meeting.

*(Sometimes Paoli, sometimes Lankenau, sometimes Delaware County Memorial Hospital; we call to learn who needs them).

heart pillows  heart pillows

March

Because the need for the heart pillows is so great, we continue making heart pillows in March. Here is a picture of some of the pillows we made in 2008, as they are being displayed here at the foot of the communion table as an offering to the Lord. Each pillow is about 16" wide.  With the 20 from February and the 20 from March, we gave a total of 40 some pillows to Delaware County Memorial Hospital in 2012.  In 2013 we set a new record of 45 pillows.  In 2014, we made 41 pillows.

heart pillows
40 pillows stacked high, in 2007

 

heart pillows
45 pillows (2013)

 

heart pillows
44 pillows (2014)

 

heart pillows
close-up

 

April

The CWF project for April is to give Health Kits and/or sheets, towels and washcloths to The Life Center (the homeless shelter of Delaware County) located on Market Street in Upper Darby Township (in Millbourne by Cobbs Creek)

In 2008, because of an additional gift from the Dorsey Johnson Memorial Fund, we gave them 41 towels, among other items listed here.  In 2013 the CWF used donations of $200 to buy 26 towels and 11 sets of twin sheets. In addition, three sets of sheets were donated. In 2014, we gave 7 twin sheet-sets, 19 towels, and 16 washcloths.

Donations of individual items or cash can be gven to Dale or Marion. 

If the Life Center has sufficient supplies, we send to CWS.  Sometimes we send complete Health Kits to CWS, or we send the funds for them to put the kits together. The CWS Health Kits are to contain most of the following, depending on the sex of the receiver:

  • Toothpaste (still in an unopened box)
  • Toothbrush (still in its plastic container)
  • Nail Clippers
  • Emory Boards
  • Soap (still in box)
  • Washcloth
  • Powder
  • Lotion
  • Shampoo
  • Comb
  • Pen
  • Shaving Cream
  • Shavers
  • After Shave
health kit
This picture borrowed from CWS.

May

Our May project is Blanket the World for Church World Service, for the homeless and refugees around the world. (Among thousands of other recipients, blankets were given to the Tsunami survivors, and the Katrina and Sandy survivors.) Donations, given in increments of ten dollars for each blanket, may be made "in honor of" or "in memorial to" a special woman or women in the donor's life, such as one's mother or a special teacher. The project is organized by Marion Johnson — now by Beck Johnson. For more information about Church World Service and their blanket and tools programs, check out their website:  https://cwsblankets.org/.

blankets  people showing their blankets
These pictures are borrowed from the CWS website.

This is the last meeting held beginning at 10:30 a.m., followed by a luncheon, until the following October.

June

This CWF meeting will be held in the church building, beginning with a Pot-luck Salad Supper, at 6:30 p.m., with the program from 7:30 to 8:30 or 9:00 p.m., closing with a time of devotional worship.

Our project is Tools For Hope for Church World Service, for providing tools for people to take care of themselves. [From the idea, "You can either feed a man for a day, or give him the tools to feed himself for the rest of his life."]  Donations for Church World Service are given in increments of $10. Donations may be made "in honor of" or "in memorial to" a special man or men, such as one's father and/or a special teacher, and given to Becky Johnson.

 ways of helping tools

These CWS project pictures were borrowed from the CWS (Church World Service) web site.  To see the world map more clearly, with working links, go to:  https://secure2.convio.net/cws/pdf/AnnRprtFY12.pdf

Also in June is the annual Yard Sale.  It began as a CWF project, but eventually became an all-church event as it takes all of us to make it happen.  The prices for used items are low because it is not only a fundraiser for the church, but is seen as a service to the community to provide inexpensive items to those who need them.  It is usually held the first Saturday in June.

Other On-going and Occasional Projects

At any time during the year, our CWF collects Campbells' Soup labels for The Cleveland Home for Children. We are also collecting the blue receipts from Acme. Also, we continue to collect unusual used stamps to 'stamp' out hunger. ('unusual' like commemorative stamps made for special occasions) These may be turned in to Marion Johnson, Barbara Ann Floyd (President) or Pat Treat (Secretary).

Other occasional projects that the Christian Women's Fellowship participates in from time to time are: baby gifts to Head Start (given to Fellowship Christian Church in Philadelphia); layettes for Church World Service; Christmas stockings for Melmark; Christmas presents sent to the children of The Cleveland Home; gift certificates to McDonalds fast food restaurants; panties and socks given to the Life Center Shelter for girls and women, and Ronald McDonald House fundraisers.


These CWF projects described here are above and beyond the projects done by our Church as a whole, like the offerings and gifts for the "Christmas Family" (a Delaware County family), the Wednesday "free breakfasts", and the congregational money sent to the Disciples headquarters for dispersing aid to groups in need in this country and around the world (like to Hurricane victims),  the projects done by the Care Groups from time to time like house-painting or leaf raking in our community, or the individual members who represent the congregation with the Welcome Baskets, volunteering at this area's Food Cupboard, and preparing and serving food at The Life Center in cooperation with the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church of Upper Darby.

For more information on any of the above, please call Reverend Janet Moore at the Church at 610-356-6186 (leave a message) or contact her by email (marplecc@comcast.net).  If you haven't already, please check out our church website.


Our State, Interregional, and International branches of CWF: 

[DWM logo]On the local level we have retained the name CWF, but on the Regional and broader levels, the name has been changed from Christian Women's Fellowship (CWF) to Disciples Women's Ministries (DWM) to better indicate the purpose of this charitable organization.

For information about and from the Disciples Women's Ministries of Pennsylvania, such as their annual retreat and Spring Event, or DWM board cabinet, and various projects, please go to this web site: <https://secure5.nm-secure.com/padisciples/content.cfm?id=314>.

For information about the Interregional DWM, National DWM, and International DWM (IDWM), please go to: <ihttp://www.discipleswomen.org>.