Your WMS Council met on May 19 at the Sheraton Parkway Hotel in Richmond Hill, ON. Although this was a condensed meeting, there a few decisions to note. First, we have decided to continue with our current Together We Can! projects for another year. So, there is still time for your group to promote the collection of funds for the health clinics in Gaza, or the refugee programs in Canada. (Contact the WMS office for resources on these two projects.)

We also had an update on the building of the Jobat hostel from our previous Together We Can! project. Building should begin in about a month and it will take 8–10 months to complete the hostel. A group from the WMS will go to India for the opening of the hostel.

We had a brief presentation from Presbyterian Women, the women’s organization of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Their purpose is very similar to ours. They shared one of the projects that they are working on. They are selling baskets, and other items, made by the Roma woman in sub-Carpathian Ukraine. The baskets are made of local materials (reeds) and the women of the cooperative boil and dry the reads prior to weaving them into beautiful products. The money from the sale of these items goes directly to the women! The representative from Presbyterian Women invited us to join with them in this project. We were excited about this work and have decided that we will consider this partnership with the Presbyterian Women and the details will be worked out.

We also agreed that we will celebrate in 2014! This will mark the 100th anniversary of the WMS.