The Anglican Charitable Foundation for Children (ACFC) had its beginning when Bishop Edward Feild responded to a pressing need to look after families who had been affected by the cholera outbreak of 1854. On Ash Wednesday, which fell on February 21 in 1855, the bishop provided a house near the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John’s which became home to eight orphans in the care of a widow. This orphanage gave rise to the Shannon Munn Memorial Orphanage for boys in 1918, which was located at what is now the Arts and Culture Centre, and the T.R. Job Memorial Orphanage for girls, which was on Strawberry Marsh Road. A new combined orphanage, “Exon House,” was opened in 1966 and closed in 1969. Over 2000 children and a number of widows were cared for in those 124 years.
In 1974, ACFC was established with the assets from the sale of Exon House. With the restructuring of the Diocese of Newfoundland into three dioceses in 1976, each diocesan Board of Trustees continues to assist children and young people in need with financial assistance, medical, education bursaries, and emergency funding. Provincially, the ACFC has assisted 40,000 individuals and distributed in excess of 8 million dollars.
On October 3rd, 2022, the 400th meeting of the ENL Board of Trustees was held to mark this milestone. For further information on this ministry of the Church, please visit your diocesan website under ACFC.
