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DISTINCTIVE ORGANIZATION: “There / munity, and so _many WOrking’ women with little spare time for meetings. that the 1 Institute is having a hard ttrne to carry on." This was a tonimon lament in the ,nslltutes annual reports this year. Almost every secretary Wrote that her lns‘littite was min at interest the younger womenmf the locality; but it seemed to us that some of the Intel: hey offered had little to do With the \Vomen's Institute‘s real purpose. One serretnn even .tondered if the Institute should start a bowling club to moan Young women" Onl\ in few ecommendecl the organization on its own merits. ' i ' are so many organizations in the com- “There are so many organizations.“ Then if we want ours to stand our among the Other, .t must have some distinction; and the Women‘s Institute has this in the verv purpose for “hid-l it was Emu-[dad It is me only Organization I kno“ 05 that was Iiifgflntzed lot the [good if the family. That means every individual in every famil}, [ha-cfan every Pam,“ in‘ (he (immunity â€" With the community expanding to take in the whole Cttunlrv and. as our itirlzons broaden, the whole world. _ But we see people most (lend) ~ men, women, children, comb and the aged â€" when we think of them as individuals in the setting of a ftimilv uith ‘ts sympathy or misunderstanding, gloom or gaiety, ignorance or enlightenment. poverty or comfort, nurture or neglect of children, the tolerance of evil or the quest for goodnum truth and beauty. An organization that concerns itself with the f.tmily has a broad btise to nork from. To begin with fundamentals: can anyone say women hate outgrtmn the need of drills in feeding, clothing and housing a family, and making the most of the familr income? The new foods and textiles and appliances coming on the market, the high pressure selling of these times, constantly bring new problems to the homemaker. Institutes have study L‘l'Jurxus available in these fields; and isn't there a job here for women \\ ho have raised their non families to arrange these Courses for the young women in their localin.‘ \Ve know of one woman who personally took on the responsibility of organizing a clasx in money management for a group of interested young mothers. In the psychology of family living some Institutes have child sntdy discussions led by a panel of, say, a school teacher, a clergyman, a social worker or a psychologist if one is available and always a parent or two. Recently, there has been .tn upsurge in the uso of films on family relations. Is any other organization offering this Slll'l of program? Women's Institutes care about the health of the family. \V’e find them sponsoring child clinics, bringing lectures on health topics to their own meetings and to meetings for the community, helping with schools and hospitals for retarded children. ’.-\ new and popular Project for Institutes near a mental hospital is to visit the patients socially to help in (llL‘ll' rehabilitation when they go back into the community. Naturally, the Women‘s Institute is interested in anything the community Il1ill has .tn impact on the family, such as schools, libraries, recreation facilities. ‘In (".ll'llL’F days Institutes provided schools with all sorts of equipment: they establishtd libraries: they rittfud Ittnt]s_ for community halls and skating-rinks. Now they rtre'more likely VKO be bringing In authorities [0 acquaint the people with new trends in education. (We .‘tllll have ‘tl lot to lettan tlibolut lunic-r colleges and the dignity of vocational training.) It is not untommon to mi in librarian at an Institute meeting talking about books and planned reading. And Institutes have been known to arrange a public meeting to discuss the recreational needs of the com- tween on hand to speak for every- mlmi ' with oun e0 It: and old people and others in he I p 1 V _ thingqfrom sgortsgatid sauare dancing to drama and study groups and stngtng._ Most Institutes vi5it their (jaunt): Home occasionally and some are taking a new interest in the problems of aging. Women’s Institutes, like other organizatit't Poverty and hunger in other parts iii the “'1” l0 'hel to relieve it. Perha s thetr sympany f ‘ H i “‘1’ 0i3 the family â€"â€" they cgrrespond with the children, they sponsor [through the Children Fund' they heat, through their international SL'IitWIar\l_llP~fh““ ‘I‘I'I‘I‘i? “‘3 L‘ 1's . . , . , about nutrition and how to conserve food to keep the” “null” "’m * “I E- And all the time right at home, the Institute finds [he must oritfiflfll Will's "l helljllgii: 3* family in misfortunelâ€" the hearing aid for an old man, the cleaning woman for a netg tor recovering from an illness. We could o On and On with [his program. Anti women with imagination fang unclur- standin heartsgcould find other thing, [0 do that no one Clfiu'hlld LI'Il‘flln‘llrtl of fiet. ‘nln no one Could any that the Women’s Institute is an organization With 11 t ntatttr 0 its 1“ . WW us. are becoming more and more aware of the Id' and like other organizations they are lr)|l‘|g I s is especiallv qutckenetl because they help by FALL 1966