HISTORY OF THE OMAHA CHAPTER
The Christ Child Society Chapter of Omaha is one of the oldest chapters in the United States, officially chartered in 1906 and incorporated in 1919. The chapter began when local go-getter, Stella Hamilton (later to be Stella Stapleton) of Omaha, visited Washington DC and met Mary Virginia Merrick. She returned to Omaha aflame with a commitment to “direct, personal service to the needy.” With help from Reverend Mother Mary Hoban, RSCJ, and, with the support of Bishop Richard Scannell, she organized a chapter at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. In 1916, when Miss Merrick federated the existing chapters into the National Christ Child Society, Stella Hamilton was one of two national vice presidents serving under Mary Virginia Merrick. For more than 100 years, generations of Catholic Omaha women have passed this torch, carrying on the Christ Child tradition, serving, engaging and dignifying Omaha’s smallest and neediest in a variety of ways. The Omaha chapter currently focuses on providing bags full of baby necessities (layettes) for young mothers, as well as offering significant educational scholarships to empower and change the future for those who are eligible to receive the layettes.
