The Norwich Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (NDCCW), an affiliate of the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW), works hard to carry out its mission by acting “through its members to support, empower, and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service. NCCW programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in the modern world." The NCCW will celebrate its 100th anniversary this August.
Sixty percent of the NDCCW membership drive is donated directly to Catholic Charities in Willimantic, New London, Middletown and New London. In 2019 this donation was $13,659.00. Since 1955 it is estimated that over $500,000.00 has been donated to Catholic Charities through the generous support of men and women contributing to the membership drive.
The NDCCW also conducts the following programs:
The Layette Program, established more than 40 years ago, collects infant and toddler clothes as well as diapers. Many handmade items including the beautiful quilts made by the Quilters of St Andrew in Colchester are donated. Last year 27 handmade quilts were donated. The items are distributed to the Catholic Charities pregnancy programs throughout the diocese.
Since 2005 we have been collecting and donating books. The current program is called “Read to Grow”, which distributes books to newborn and low income families’...-over 1000 books were collected at the recent NDCCW Convention.
“Boxes of Joy “is a project of Cross Catholic Outreach to provide children in third world countries with small gifts for Christmas. NDCCW encourages Affiliates to work with parish CCD programs as a project for their students. The children enjoy filling a shoe box with small items such as coloring books, crayons, socks, puzzles, and small cars for children who will not receive gifts. The boxes are sent to Cross Catholic Outreach in Florida and then delivered to Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. NDCCW also contributes to these Cross Catholic Outreach programs: The Marie Louise Boyle Center, and the St. Jean Evangelista Home, in Haiti and St. Joseph Nutrition Center, in Guatemala.
The NCCW also partnered with CRS -Catholic Relief Services in their “Works of Peace” – Water for Life and the Madonna Plan. Each Affiliate is asked to have a free will collection at each of their meetings. In a little over 5 years The Middletown District CCW has sent $8,000.0O to CRS for Water for Life. The funds are used to drill wells and provide pumps for clean water, preventing blindness caused by organisms in polluted water. St Patrick Guild in East Hampton has a monthly collection at their Guild meeting and matches the total collected at the end of the year.
The Middletown District CCW co-sponsored a program on Human Trafficking with St Theresa Guild.
In January, the NCCW Officers conduct a national Board meeting of 35 representatives from across the country in Washington DC. The meeting is planned to coincide with the March for Life. They have participated every year in spite of some very severe weather. This year the NDCCW donated to the Diocese Pro-Life Ministry 2020 March for Life Trip to Washington DC led by Reverend Brian Maxwell. Over 100 high school and college students were able to attend the March.
In September of 2020 the NDCCW Convention will be held in the New London District. The program and speakers will be announced later. All Catholic Women in the Diocese are invited to attend this annual meeting which includes Mass with His Excellency Bishop Cote and Council Spiritual Advisers.
We are always looking for members to help us with our mission.
By Connie Gillies
For more information contact:
Connie Gillies, President of the Norwich Diocesan Council of Catholic Women
Phone: 860-347-4733; email: cnngillies54@gmail.com