Mission Statement

The Women's Institutes of Nova Scotia continue to provide opportunities to enhance the quality of life, through education and personal development, allowing us to meet the changing needs of our local and global communities.

Vision Statement

Motto

"For Home and Country"

These four words outline the purpose of the organization. "Home" is the first priority, assisting women to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to meet the demands of home, family and work.

"Country" starts with the community of which the organization forms a part, and extends throughout the nation and into the international field.

Mary Stewart Collect

Keep us O Lord from pettiness, let us be large in thought, in word and deed,
Let us be done with fault finding and leave off self seeking.
May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face,
without self pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgement and always generous.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straight forward and unafraid.
Let us take time for all things; make us grow calm, serene, gentle.
Grant that we may realize that it is the little things that create differences;
that in the big things of life we are one.
And may we strive to touch and know the great human heart common to us all,
and O Lord God,
Let us not forget to be kind.

Who was Mary Stewart?
Mary Stewart was born in 1876 in Ohio, but spent her childhood in Georgetown, Colorado, high up in the Rockies. As the principal of a highschool at Longmont, Colorado, she was described as a little bundle of energy, dignity and personal charm. It was while she was principal that this collect was written and has been used by the Women's Institutes and other organizations around the world as their club creed.

Mary Stewart died at the age of 67, on April 1, 1943, in Ohio.