Social Concerns

*What does the Social Concerns Committee do?

The Social Concerns Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin tries to honor the UU principle of respect for the "interdependent web of all existence" by thinking globally and connecting locally.

*Occasional classes and regular third-Sunday social-issue luncheons feature practical aspects of social justice, civil rights and sustainability.
(Luncheons are served at 12:30. A $5 luncheon donation is suggested. Nobody turned away.)

*Monthly Steering Committee meetings (open to all) are held on (most) second Sundays @ 12:30.

*SOCIAL CONCERNS COMMITTEE NEWS

This program year we focused on the growing homeless population of Marin county. A major direct service project was to prepare, serve and eat dinners with 20 homeless women who slept on our warm, dry Fireside Room floor on Sunday nights from December to April. Working closely with the Marin Interfaith Council, we continue to advocate for a permanent county shelter.

Social justice luncheon issues ranged from affordable housing, to mid-east peace progress, to the right to a safe water supply.

As always, we support the programs of the U.U. Service Committee and the U.U. Legislative Ministry of California.

Last but not least, our congregation has been awarded official Green Sanctuary status by the Unitarian Universalist Association. Kudos to Jan Quinley and her helpers for seeing this effort through. You will be receiving more details on this program later also.

Month after month, your Social Concerns Committee goes about the business of community
OUTREACH.

We need your support for the rising population of homeless and hungry people in our own back yard.
There are several ways you can help.

1. Drop something in the Food Bank Barrel: Canned anything, Spaghetti, Cereal, Dry milk, Rice, Dry Beans, Peanut Butter, Jelly. No glass or home-canned goods.

2. Bring a dish for the Mill Street Shelter on the 1st Sunday of a month. This will continue throughout the winter Rotating Shelter season. Contact June Fesler.

3. Prepare a dish, serve and dine several times a year with 30 or so homeless folks from Marin Interfaith Council's Street Ministry.

*Organizing Social Concerns

JOIN THE STEERING COMMITTEE on the second Sunday of each month in the Clara Barton
Room from 12:30 to 2 P.M. and help decide the direction of the Social Concerns committee.

*Who Social Concerns supports:

Marin Interfaith Council, Ecumenical Association for Housing, Homeward Bound, UU Legislative Ministry of California, UU-United Nations, UU Ministry for Earth, and UU Service Committee.

*Social Advocate E-mail Lists

The Social Concerns Committee provides a synopsis of e-mail requests from our UUA Washington Office and UU Service Committee to contact national leaders about legislation or policy issues of interest to religious progressives. Sample letters and contact information are provided. (Usually 3 or 4 requests per month.)

A second group, CA Social Advocates, does the same for action requests from our CA UU Legislative Ministry in Sacramento. (1 or 2 per month.)

To join either of these lists, contact Dick Park

*Basket Shares 2009-2010

Congratulations, UUCM! We sent nearly $2,000 to support nine different organizations in the past church year 2008-2009. Recipients were: Church of the Larger Fellowship, Marin Organic, The Iraqi Student Project, Young Imaginations, Respecting our Elders, Nonviolent Peaceforce, Marin Aids Project, UU Trauma Response Ministry, and our Partner Church.

Basket share is one of our links to the broader community. Nonprofit organizations providing essential services are brought to our attention by YOU - members and friends of UUCM. We learn about their missions, and we support them.

UUCM Basket Share, 2009-10

9/20 - St. Vincent de Paul Society Emergency Shelter - Joan

10/11 - Marin Abused Women’s Services (MAWS) - Marla

11/8 - Canal Alliance - Bev

1/10 - Marin Humane Society - Gerry

2/14 - Marin Community Clinics - Sally

March - no Basket Share, due to pledge week.

4/11 - Partner Church - Terry

5/10 - Cross Cultural Classrooms - Art

6/13 - Marin Community Clinics - Inka

*Social Action Table:
The Social Concerns Committee maintains a regular information and action table during coffee hour after Sunday Services. To bring an approved social justice related project to the attention of the congregation, check with Joan to make the table your "soap box" for a particular Sunday.

*Hands on Ministry: Volunteer to help the Social Concerns Committee with one
of its hands-on ministries in Marin. Sign up with June to prepare a dish to bring to the Sunday service on the first Sunday of any month. She will deliver it to the Mill Street Emergency Shelter for you.

Or sign up with Carol to go, in person, to serve and dine with the homeless people at one of the Tuesday evening Wellness Dinners (6 times a year) sponsored by the Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy whose goal is “to nurture a spiritual presence on the streets of Marin”.You will be glad you did!

Homeward Bound Wish List includes: Bedding, Covered Electric Skillets, Crock Pots, Daily Planners and Calendars, Disposable Dishes and Cutlery, Dressers, lamps, Cold Medicine for Kids, Toothpaste and Brushes, Alarm Clocks...........For more needs, see green list on Social Concerns Bulletin Board or contact June and Joan.

*An ongoing fundraiser is the Fair Trade (Coffee, Tea, Chocolate) Project ordered through the Fair Trade Coffee Company by Joan. Every time you purchase 1 lb. (ground to your precise specifications) a portion of the profits goes directly to the coffee farmers and their communities. Another portion ($3) goes directly to UUCM!