Mothers’ Union Bursary
What can a parish do when the healthcare system is in crisis and there are not enough people to care for the sick and elderly? The Parish of St. John the Evangelist came up with a unique response.
A “Build the Kingdom” initiative by Parish Council handed out five-dollar bills during Lent 2022 to everyone with the instruction to do something good with it. The response was overwhelming from children donating to the IWK for the care they received, to the sale of baked goods to asking coworkers to donate to a variety of worthy causes.
Yet, one person continued to think about what to do. In the end, with some research, Parish Council decided to set up a Bursary at Nova Scotia Community College: The St. John the Evangelist Healthcare Bursary for a student in the Practical Nursing, Return to Practical Nursing or Continuing Care programs.
A dedicated fundraising team got to work advertising how parishioners and members of the wider community could donate directly towards the bursary with the aim of raising the minimum $30K required for a perpetual annual award of $1K from the interest. Once the word got out, some amazing things began to happen! People told of the bursary, pulled out their cheque books and made generous donations. Some signed up to donate on a monthly basis. Some donated goods such as handmade quilts to raffle or auction in order to raise funds.
In May 2023, the Parish held a Curry Supper prepared under the supervision of retired Chef Sudheer Mamidi and his team which netted about $3K from the meal, $500. in tips and moved one participant to donate another $3K!
To date, the principal amount of the Bursary is now over $18K or 62% of our goal after the launch in January 2023. The Bursary team is busy getting the word out and planning a Dinner and Auction in October with a wide range of exciting prizes.
In the meantime, a group within the Parish has committed to donating to the $1K Bursary starting this year and into the future, until the required principal amount is reached.
Without a doubt, God can do amazing things with a five-dollar bill! Together we are helping to improve health care in Nova Scotia — one caregiver at a time! We can’t fix everything, but we can do something! https://support.nscc.ca/st-john-the-evangelist
