Marcia Porter

Dr. Kay Matthews is a retired Memorial School of Nursing (SON) faculty member, an honorary graduate of Memorial University, a retired mid-wife and registered nurse.

And for much of her career she was well-known for her work with mothers and babies in Africa, Indonesia and Nunavut during much of her career.

These days as an active member of the Terra Nova Grannies, she's still finding ways to make a difference in the lives of children and families.

The Terra Nova Grannies came together in 2007, after Dr. Matthews had been for a visit to see her daughter and attended her parish church in Toronto. It was Development and Peace Sunday, and a grandmother there had a display about the Stephen Lewis Foundation's (SLF) Grandmother Campaign.

"As a grandmother, I realized this was a project I could really relate to at the other end of life, the African grandmothers whose children had died from AIDS and who were caring for their orphaned grandchildren," she said.

Returning home to St. John's, she told her 'non-reading' book club about the group, and everyone was interested. Coincidentally, another friend of Dr. Matthews was already a member of the campaign.

"Initially, we were just going to contribute $5 each every month to the SLF for the grandmothers, but soon found that other grandmother groups were doing much more," she said. "We now have raised over $50,000 through our annual walk, scrabble games, silent auctions, dinners, a raffle and other donations. "

Most recently the Grannies held a successful scrabble fundraiser at the Lantern in St. John's, with a full-house of scrabble players, including CBC Radio's Morning Show Host Anthony Germaine, and NDP MHA Lorraine Michael.