Women on a Mission!

Three letters that were recently passed along to Epiphany ECW offer insight into what keeps a very small group of hardworking ladies focused on their mission.

Have you ever wondered how small groups manage to raise money to fund projects? One such example can be found right here at the Church of the Epiphany in Eutawville. The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) theoretically includes all the women of this small parish, but in fact consists of fewer than twenty ladies who work tirelessly to fund a variety of projects.

Many efforts are quite obvious, such as making draperies and tablecloths for the new Ministry Center when it was completed in late 2000, or preparing and delivering Meals on Wheels. But many more are not so obvious. Epiphany ECW regularly contributes to local endeavors such as Meals on Wheels and Hebron Grace Ministries, and a variety of world missions in places such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, often having special fund-raisers to underwrite the cost.

From time to time, however, catastrophes require immediate efforts, and for that reason ECW has felt the need for a financial cushion to allow them to react more quickly than the regular budget would allow.

In 2001, ECW began discussing a major fund-raiser that could be combined with the celebration of the 2004 bicentennial year. It had been approximately fifty years since a predecessor group had first published a cookbook, and a long time since that cookbook had been updated. So a committee of five was appointed and the net was cast for recipe contributions.

Response was overwhelming, and the committee decided to expand the project. They selected a group of the more elegant recipes which they decided to publish quickly as a small cookbook to be followed later by a larger one! The first printing of "Epiphany Entertains", published in 2002, sold out quickly, and the book has been reprinted twice, with the price remaining at $10 each. The newer book, "Epiphany Celebrates" was published in early 2004, the original target. Despite the expanded size of the cookbook, the decision was to keep the price at $10 for this book also. .

When the devastating tsunami hit SE Asia in late December, 2004, the immediate response was to consider what would be most effective, considering that the local group is so small and has such limited resources.

It was apparent that one of the most vital needs was a way to prevent the spread of cholera and other diseases through providing a supply of drinking water. Because of the hard work and success with these two cookbooks, ECW was able to immediately contribute $500 toward tsunami relief through Water Missions International (WMI), an engineering company in Charleston that builds and distributes Living Water Treatment Systems. Each of these systems can purify 10,000 gallons of water per day, enough for 2500-5000 people. This organization placed more than 60 systems in areas devastated by the tsunami. Since its inception in 1998, WMI has placed water treatment systems in 19 countries, including Dominican Republic, Honduras, Haiti, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Cuba.

When hurricane Katrina clobbered the Gulf coast, ECW was able to send another $500 to help fund the units Water Missions International had taken to the area immediately. This was the first time that WMI had participated in a US project.

ECW had prompt acknowledgment of donations and almost instant awareness of the effectiveness of their donations. However, this latest letter, dated September 15, 2005,  not only thanks the group for their generous contribution, but notes that WMI got it matched, thereby doubling the effectiveness of the contribution!

Another letter came from Father Len Williams, Chaplain of the Charleston Port & Seafarers Society, thanking ECW for its donation. Some of us remember the Seaman’s Chapel and home in the market area of Charleston. Although the precise mission has changed since it was established in the early 1800s, this ministry serves mariners who come through the port of Charleston. The May 28, 2006 Post & Courier had an excellent feature article about this ministry.

The third letter, circulating somewhere since December 2005, came from Healing Farm Ministries, Inc., an effort that ECW has previously supported as a Diocesan project. This exciting new project in McClellanville provides a community for developmentally disabled, and ECW was happy to provide additional financial support to expand their work.

Without the cushion of proceeds from cookbook sales it is highly unlikely that the donations could have been as large or as instantaneous. If you are unfamiliar with these two cookbooks, please take a look at the ECW sale table in the Ministry Center where they regularly display a variety of goods for sale. If you are not in the area, cookbooks can be ordered from Epiphany ECW (PO Box 9, Eutawville, SC 29048) for $15; they'll mail you two for $25, one of each or two of either one.