Nancy Morris told us that Disaster Aid Canada (DAC) is governed and administered by Canadian Rotarians, working with Disaster Aid International, regional disaster aid organizations and Rotarians around the world. She said Disaster Aid International is an Official Collaborating Organization of RI. DAC is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ladysmith, BC.
Their mission is to provide and assist in delivering humanitarian aid, shelter, sustainable water systems and hygiene products to people affected by natural and other disasters. They are partners in Disaster Aid International with Australia, USA, UK and Ireland. Almost all the people involved in the organization around the world are members of Rotary clubs.
Nancy Morris then introduced our speaker, Margaret Mills. Margaret is a product of Charleswood and lives with her husband Peter in Headingly. She worked for 33 years as a Customer Service Agent for Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International. Margaret served three consecutive terms as a Councillor for the RM of Headingly; she was the first elected woman on Council.Margaret has always volunteered, and she is a long-time member of the Costume Museum of Canada and has served on their Board for 9 years. She spent 30 years as one of the founding members of the Headingly United Church Dinner Theatre as well as designing and making the costumes and many of the props and sets, while also taking on stage roles.
Margaret told us she had learned about a project from Bill Brown, also a member of Headingly United, who had heard of a woman in the US who was making simple little dresses for children in Africa and other needy areas. This got her attention and Margaret showed us an example of a dress made from a pillowcase. She said she enjoyed the process because she can’t bear to throw away scraps of cloth, and they can often make clothing for small children. She called the undertaking “Little Dresses”.
Margaret said one of the big problems with getting these clothes to children who need them is transportation. She said with her connections with Air Canada she has been able to get large boxes of clothing to the Disaster Aid Canada warehouse in Victoria. She also told of an acquaintance who worked with the Hospital ship Mercy in Benin. This lady packed a suitcase full of little clothing to take with her when she went on her month with the ship and was able to deliver them to an orphanage in Benin. They were able to clothe 37 small children, much to the delight of the people who ran the orphanage.Margaret said Disaster Aid has a large warehouse in Victoria and one of the things they do is to collect toiletries from local hotels. An interesting sideline is that they also collect used soap from the hotels, melt it down and re-make “Soap for Hope”, which is included in toiletry donations.
Margaret noted that several churches and other organizations in our area are now involved in “Little Dresses”.