UCS Social Justice News

Unitarian Church of Sharon
4 N. Main St.
Sharon, MA 02067

781-784-3652
E-mail UCS

May 2008

For the month of May, the Social Justice Committee wanted to support educational efforts in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls. Through some research, the organization we selected for “the brown envelope offerings” is Afghans 4 Tomorrow.

Here are examples of what our social justice donation to them will provide:

$1 = 10 pencils
$1 = 5 student notebooks
$2 = a pair of socks
$3 = one fruit tree sapling for A4T schools
$5 = a year’s supply of notebooks for one student
$30 = teacher’s supplies for a classroom for 4 months
$40 = wood to heat one classroom for 2 months
$50 = a portion of the rent for the school’s building
$100 = teacher’s salary for one month.

In March, we raised $698.25 for the Fistula Foundation. Look for a summary of all of this year’s brown envelope offerings in the church’s Annual Report.

SJ Dates to Remember:

The next meeting of the Social Justice Committee will be on Sunday, May 4th, from noon to 1:00 PM. Please join us as we discuss current social issues and plan UCS’s social justice work.
Please join us for making 85 lunches for Father Bills & MainSpring on Sunday, May 11th, during coffee hour.

Thank you to our youth who prepared the lunches for Father Bills & MainSpring in April.

During the month of May, the Equal Exchange sales will wind down for the summer break. Please purchase your favorites soon and help us clear out our inventory.

The International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women will have their first international gathering in Houston, Texas on February 26-March 1, 2009. The Convocation will focus on education, faith, action and transformation. Although it is supportive of women, men are invited to participate as well. For more information, please see www.icuuw. com. Also, if you are interested in attending, please let the social justice committee know.

Lastly, we want to remind you that we continually collect can food donations for the Stoughton (and Sharon) Food Pantry. Please leave them in the basket at the vestry entrance and a SJC member will deliver them to the very grateful volunteers at the Pantry.

To communicate with the Social Justice Committee, please email us at justicecommittee@uusharon.org. To connect with the Social Justice efforts that the UUA is taking, please see www.uua.org/socialjustice.

April 2008

The worship service on April 13th will focus on Social Justice with messages from Karen McHugh and Mia Joiner-Moore. In connection with the service, the Brown Envelope offerings for the month of April will tie with two organizations presented by the speakers.

Karen McHugh will share about her experience with The Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This hospital is the only pediatric, academic hospital in Cambodia, serving thousands of children each year. The families it serves are extremely poor and frequently travel by motorbike for hundreds of miles to Siem Reap to seek help for their sick children. Cambodia has the highest rate of HIV positive children in the world and 70% of its children are moderately to severely malnourished. This hospital is funded 100% on donations as there is no governmental support and no health insurers in the country. Donations through Friends Without A Border support the purchasing of needed supplies such as medicine, operating room equipment, preventive health care programs and outreach care programs.

Mia Joiner-Moore will describe the work of NeighborWorks® America and its network organizations in developing affordable housing and providing homeownership education and counseling to low and moderateincome families in the U.S. They have led the country in counseling families facing foreclosure on their homes through the HOPE hotline and through local counseling programs. The Neighborhood Housing Services of the South Shore, a chartered member of the Neighbor- Works® network, has for many years partnered with Father Bills to provide affordable housing to individuals and families on the South Shore. In the past year, they established a Homeownership Center in Brockton to provide counseling to those in the area who wish to purchase a home of their own or who are facing the threat of foreclosure on their existing home. For more information, please see www.neighborhoodhousing.org.

SJ Dates to Remember:

The next meeting of the Social Justice Committee will be on Sunday, April 6th, from noon to 1:00 PM. Please join us as we discuss current social issues and plan UCS’s social justice work.
Please join the Junior Youth during coffee hour on Sunday, April 13th. They will prepare and deliver 85 lunches for Father Bills & MainSpring.

The Annual Meeting of the UU Urban Ministry will be on Thursday, May 15th in Boston. Our church is a member of UUUM and we are entitled to send two delegates. Please contact the SJ committee if you’d like to attend.

In February, we raised $381 through brown envelope offerings. This amount, plus the $86.60 raised on January 6th, will be split between The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and Community Legal Services and Counseling Services (CLSACC).

On Wednesday, March 19th, the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq, 51 people of all ages, from Sharon and neighboring communities, stood together on the four corners next to our church, holding signs for peace and of protest against the war. Some of us held candles or flashlights or lanterns, and some of us sang some peace songs. Weekly vigils are ongoing, Wednesdays from 7:00-8:00 p.m. – all are welcome for all or part of the hour.

The Stoughton Food Pantry serves people in need of food provisions for both Stoughton and Sharon. A recent article in the Sharon Advocate cited that “Food banks across Massachusetts are struggling to meet the demands of a faltering economy beset by the mortgage debacle and higher food and energy costs.” The pantry purchases cereals and grains in bulk, but rely on donations for canned goods to provide nutritious food to those in need. So when you do your weekly shopping, please purchase a can or two of soup, fruit, vegetables or meat. Leave them in the basket at the vestry entrance and a SJC member will deliver them to the very grateful volunteers at the Pantry.

March 2008

In March, the “brown envelope” offerings will support the Fistula Foundation. The Fistula Foundation is dedicated to helping women injured in childbirth in Eastern Africa.

With your generous support to the “brown envelopes”, the following donations for local, national and international causes have been made to date:

September: $610.70 for monthly lunch preparations for Father Bill’s & MainSpring
October: $556.75 for UUA-UUSC Gulf Coast Relief
November: $622.55 for FINCA International
December: $317.20 for Partner Church in Transylvania
January: $391.50 for Soldiers Helping Those In Need (purchased 58 blankets for Iraqis)
January: $86.60 will be added to February’s donations to that will be split between the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition and Community Legal Services and Counseling Services.
In addition, $304.00 was donated to Renewal House from the December Holiday Party collection.

Upcoming Events and Dates:

The next meeting of the Social Justice Committee will be on Sunday, March 2nd, from noon to 1:00 PM. Please join us as we discuss current social issues and plan UCS’s social justice work.

Please join us for making 85 lunches for Father Bills & MainSpring on Sunday, March 9th, during coffee hour. The Stoughton Food Pantry serves people in need of food provisions for both Stoughton and Sharon. A recent article in the Sharon Advocate cited that “Food banks across Massachusetts are struggling to meet the demands of a faltering economy beset by the mortgage debacle and higher food and energy costs.” The pantry purchases cereals and grains in bulk, but rely on donations for canned goods to provide nutritious food to those in need. So when you do your weekly shopping, please purchase a can or two of soup, fruit, vegetables or meat. Leave them in the basket at the vestry entrance and a SJC member will deliver them to the very grateful volunteers at the Pantry.

The Social Justice Committee has received a “Peace Package” through the UUA from Veterans For Peace. The package includes a DVD provided by the American Friends Service Committee. The DVD contains four recent videos that challenge the war machine. The package also contains a CD from Pat Scanlan, a Vietnam Veteran who is protesting the war in Iraq through songs. If you are interested in reviewing the “Peace Package” please email the SJC and we will make it available to you.

February 2008

Please join us on February 10th, at 3:00 PM in the Meetinghouse, when Dia Cheney will lead a presentation on Fair Trade and the lives of small coffee farmers in Chiapas, Mexico. Samples of Organic Fair Trade Mexican coffee will be served following the talk. If you are a member of friend of the church and will need child care during this presentation, please call or email Janet Schmidt and let us know by Sunday, February 3rd so we can make arrangements.

In February, the “brown envelope” offerings will be for two organizations that support immigrants in Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and Community Legal Services and Counseling Services (CLSACC). Funds raised in February will be added to the January 6th brown envelope funds, because our original plan was to support an immigrant assistance organization in January, and this was announced at that Jan. 6th worship service. We later decided to change our focus for the rest of January to meet an immediate need related to the winter – by designating funds collected in the brown envelopes on the remaining January Sundays for a unique program, recently coordinated by a US soldier with local ties. Soldiers Helping Those in Need provides blankets to people in northern Iraq, where it does get cold in the winter, and many people don’t have heat in their homes.

Thanks to church members and friends who have offered specific suggestions for groups that we can support through our monthly Social Justice fundraising. While the Social Justice committee coordinates the social action work of our church, we encourage broad participation from you, our congregation of members and friends. Several people are involved as active members of the committee, while others coordinate specific tasks. Please join us!

Upcoming Events and Dates:

The next meeting of the Social Justice Committee will be on Sunday, February 3rd, from noon to 1:00 PM. Please join us as we discuss current social issues and plan UCS’s social justice work.
During coffee hour on February 3rd, the Social Justice table will be available with information and opportunities for you to sign a petition or write a letter or postcard about current social justice issues. Please help us by bringing an action opportunity for the table; contact us in advance if you can so we’ll know what you’re bringing.
Please join us for making 85 lunches for Father Bill's & MainSpring on Sunday, February 10th, during coffee hour.
Equal Exchange products (coffee, tea, chocolate, and more) are available every week at coffee hour. Profits support our social justice projects. The Stoughton Food Pantry serves people in need of food provisions for both Stoughton and Sharon. A recent article in the Sharon Advocate cited that “Food banks across Massachusetts are struggling to meet the demands of a faltering economy beset by the mortgage debacle and higher food and energy costs.” The pantry purchases cereals and grains in bulk, but rely on donations for canned goods to provide nutritious food to those in need. So when you do your weekly shopping, please purchase a can or two of soup, fruit, vegetables or meat. Leave them in the basket at the vestry entrance and a SJC member will deliver them to the very grateful volunteers at the Pantry.

To communicate with the Social Justice Committee, please email us. To connect with the Social Justice efforts that the UUA is taking, please see www.uua.org/socialjustice.

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