When British Columbia’s Women’s Institute issued a challenge to all WIs in B.C., members of the Coldstream Women’s Institute responded with enthusiasm.
The challenge was to make pillow cases for B.C. Children’s Hospital.
“B.C. Children’s Hospital’s roots go back to the establishment of a fund for crippled children by the B.C. Women’s Institute in 1923,” said WI member Linda Frodsham. “The Crippled Children’s Hospital was renamed the Children’s Hospital in 1947.
“The name has changed but not the support. Members throughout the province continue to support the children of B.C.”
The WI got its start in February 1897 when 100 rural women met in Stoney Creek, Ont., as the first Women’s Institute. Originally allied with the Farmer’s Institute, the Women’s Institute became an independent entity which maintained strong ties to a variety of agricultural organizations.
By 1909, the organization had spread to B.C. and numbered 15 different institutes in various rural communities. By 1911, the British Columbia Agricultural Assistance Act was passed which gave legal recognition to the institutes.
