National Council of Catholic Women at 200 N. Glebe Road, Suite 703, Arlington, VA 22203 US - TEN THINGS THE INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS COMMISSION CHAIR CAN DO

2.    START AN NCCW BOOK CLUB – Invite all women of your community to attend using local and diocesan advertising.  Have information available from Catholic Woman magazine.  

3.    LEARN – Every few months, have someone in your council study CRS’s work in a different area of the world and make a presentation on it.  Visit http://crs.org/ and click on “Where We Serve.”

4.    PROMOTE NCCW – Celebrate Council Sunday.  Have a reception after Mass, invite guests from other parish or diocesan organizations, honor a member for outstanding service to Council.  Sell raffle tickets and earmark the proceeds for NCCW’S “Annual Giving.”  Send pictures and story to area papers.

5.    CALLED TO BE SAINTS—Form a study group to learn more about the lives of St. Gianna Molla, Rose Hawthorne, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and other holy women.

6.    INFORM— Promote support for the NCCW/CRS Partnership projects.  In light of the natural and human-made disasters that have made so many women and children refugees, perhaps you can plan a special promotion for the Refugee Women Emergency Fund.

7.    PRAY— Use the CRS book Prayer Without Borders, available at http://www.crsprayer.org/, for ideas and examples that reflect different cultures.  Invite members to sign up to lead opening/ closing prayer at meetings. 

8.    EDUCATE AGAINST GLOBAL POVERTY—Sponsor a Youth Dinner for the parish using the CRS “Food Fast” project (http://www.foodfast.org/).  Include a program that increases awareness—the plight of farmers; statistics on hunger in the US and the world; provide pamphlets/handouts that address action steps.

9.    USE REMEMBRANCE CARDS—A wonderful way to honor a deceased NCCW member or their loved one.  Obtain these from the national office and encourage their use!  Give them as gifts at your deanery and A/DCCW meetings.   

10. SUPPORT FAIR TRADE—Invite your parish to use, and your local merchants to make available, Fair Trade products.  These are excellent items for holiday bazaars and individual gift giving.  Look for more information on the web:  www.crsfairtrade.org; http://www.crsfairtrade.org/crafts/.