CWL Boksburg celebrates 90 years
President of the league Sophia Dooley said the Boksburg branch’s rich history started in February 1934.
It’s a special year for the Catholic Women’s League Boksburg branch as they are celebrating their 90th birthday.
The branch has, for decades, made a positive impact in the community through charity initiatives.
President of the league Sophia Dooley said the Boksburg branch’s rich history started in February 1934.
“In 1958, St Dominic’s Parish established a Catholic Action group (similar to the present Parish Pastoral Council) made up of 24 members. The CWL (made up of 12 members) had a representative on the group who filed a report detailing the branch’s activities like baby showers and debutant’s ball in aid of the minor seminary, among other organisations,” she said.
Dooley said the CWL branch was the main inspiration behind the new building of the church hall and took on catering for those who hired the hall.
Determined to make a difference in the community, Dooley added they had numerous fundraising events in aid of charity in the hall.
“This includes our annual tea party, Christmas in July and various smaller functions,” she said.
The tea party is held to raise funds for the branch’s cancer fund that was established in 2007.
Dooley said it came into being after some branch members and a few members of the community were struggling to access and pay for cancer treatment.
She said the league members undertake numerous duties within the parish, from sacristan, proclaimers, members of the choir, flower arrangements, crockery hire and funerals
.
The members also support the parish St Vincent de Paul with soup kitchen donations and a winter blanket drive.
“We continue to donate and participate in regional and Diocesan projects such as the St Francis Care Centre. We are a small group, sharing joys and sorrows and always ready to assist where we can,” she said.
In celebration of the milestone, the branch recently held a mass at St Dominic’s Church.
The local CWL meets on the third Saturday of each month in the hall at St Dominic’s Catholic Church. For more information, contact Sophia on 082 870 7434.
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