Everyone is invited to join us. Come and find out what we’re involved with this month. Your talent and ideas are always welcome!
The Social Justice Committee normally meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. in Room 126 at the church. (Check your newsletter or the AUUC calendar on this website.)
Committee members include: Claire Brown, Nancy Davis, Scott Dunham, Julie Floyd, Jim Gerard, Pete Fontneau, Dick Foster, Ed Jaffee, Roberta Kiver, Ed Kringer, Mary Kringer, Vicki Long, Mike McCord, Yovana Pero, Kathy Shinal, Marsha White.
| Nine AUUC members marched in the Rally to Save Darfur on the National Mall, April 30, 2006. | |
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| Preparing to join the march were: Laila McQuade, Bridget Shinal, Katie Herries, Sarah Edelson, Suzy Porth, Marsha White and Pete Fontneau. Others in the group, but not shown, were Shireen McQuade and Claire Brown. | A number or Sudanese people led the UU contingent as it marched to the National Mall to join thousands of others protesting the genocide in Darfur. |
INDEX
2005 Survey Results
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ)
Beacon House
Local Community Outreach
Adopt-A-Highway
Eldercare
Voter Education
Volunteers Needed for Projects
Peacemaker Award
In February 2005, the Accotink Social Justice Committee presented a worship service and conducted a survey to determine the social action issues which were of interest to the congregation at that time. Seventy-one (71) members and friends of the church responded to the survey, providing their input on issues in which AUUC should be involved and their ideas for 2nd Sunday collections. The results of the survey indicate that the top ten issues in which the congregation believes we should be involved are:
Forty-six (46) of the respondents indicated they were willing to work with us on these social issues. The committee is working to contact these individuals to discuss ways to address the issues and to get a firm commitment to help us. If we have not yet contacted you, please attend one of our monthly meetings or contact the committee Point of Contact Claire Brown.
There were 15 suggestions for 2nd Sunday collections. Of these, seven were ineligible based on our criteria that the charity be one that is not high-profile, does not do mass solicitations, is registered as a 501(c)3 organization, and is non-partisan. In April 2005, the committee selected the 12 organizations for our 2nd Sunday collections from July 2005 through June 2006. They are:
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July: Books thru Bars August: UU Service Committee September: Naomi Project October: Young Adult/CampUUs November: All Souls Food Drive December: Beacon House |
January: Whitney Young/Anti-Racism February: Equality Fairfax March: UU Social Justice April: Interfaith Power & Light May: Literacy Council June: UU Affordable Housing Corporation |
Accotink is a member of UUSJ, a regional (Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia) social justice organization established by local area Unitarian Universalist churches and social service agencies. UUSJ’s objectives are to help UU congregations strengthen their individual social justice efforts; to stimulate joint social justice activities among area UU congregations; and to elevate area UU’s awareness of the importance of social justice work in our faith tradition. Task forces work on helping local congregations make a difference in focused areas. They team geographically and regionally to multiply their impact. For more on UUSJ, visit their web site at http://www.uusj.org.
UUSJ is a membership organization. It is funded by dues, donations by UU congregations and individuals, and by grants. By paying annual dues Accotink gains one member on the UUSJ board. That position is currently filled by Mike McCord.
In February 2002, UUSJ sponsored a Skill Building Workshop at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC where social action and public education was highlighted in a series of workshops. Marian Wright Edelman was the keynote speaker.
In January 2005, UUSJ and the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy sponsored UU Legislative Advocacy Training at the UU Church of Silver Spring where speakers from Accotink, Fairfax, and River Road Congregations shared their practices.
In February 2005, UUSJ sponsored a social justice workshop led by Reverend Richard Gilbert, author of The Prophetic Imperative: Social Gospel in Theory and Practice, at the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church. Several Accotink members attended this workshop.
Beacon House is a neighborhood-based organization providing after school tutoring, educational, sports and cultural activities for young people in the Edgewood Terrace Neighborhood, N.E. Washington, D.C. Founded as an urban ministry in 1991 by UU minister Rev. Donald E. Robinson, Beacon House offers a safe place for 350 at-risk children ages 5-18 to meet, learn and play as an alternative to involvement in drugs, violence and crime. Support comes from foundations, individual contributors, and the Unitarian Universalist churches of the greater D.C. area, including Accotink.
As Beacon House supporters, members and friends of AUUC provide food and volunteers annually for their summer picnic, where we assist in feeding up to 300 campers, counselors and adults. During the late summer, we contribute new school supplies to the children of Beacon House. In December, we donate holiday gifts, as well as warm hats, mittens, and gloves, to Beacon House children, teens, and seniors. Individuals also volunteer their time to tutor the children on a regular basis. If you would like to help in these rewarding activities, contact Jim Gerard. Check out their website at www.beaconhousedc.org.
Fairview Families: In response to a UUSJ initiative to work in the area of education, our committee initiated contact with the staff of Fairview Elementary School. This led us to purchasing Franklin Spellers and educational software for low income children. At the recommendation of a counselor, we “adopted” two single-parent families living in subsidized housing. We have several food drives during the year to help support these two families. Through the generosity of individuals in our congregations, we give each child a back-to-school book bag full of all their required supplies, plus we provide holiday gifts to the children and their single mothers. Contact Scott Dunham for further information about this program.
Adopt-A-Highway is a program sponsored by the Virginia Department of Transportation, which is part of our joint focus on the environment. VDOT has found that clean roadsides curb the tendency to litter. Since 1988, over 9000 organizations have participated in Adopt-A-Highway statewide. See http://virginiadot.org/infoservice/prog-aah-default.asp for more information on Adopt-A-Highway.
This is one way we can think globally and act locally. Accotink adopted the part of Pohick Road just east of the church from 1989-93, before the construction of the Fairfax County Parkway removed Pohick Road from the map. Our new highway is Huntsman Boulevard from the Fairfax County Parkway to Old Keene Mill Road. We plan to pick up trash along Huntsman Boulevard four times a year. We meet at the Huntsman Square Shopping Center parking lot Saturday mornings at 8 AM and are usually done about 9:30. The coordinators are Pete Fontneau and Ed Jaffee.
IndexThe Social Justice Committee is working on eldercare issues through the advocacy organization, TLC 4 Long Term Care Residents (TLC4LTC). The goal of TLC4LTC is to improve the quality of life for Virginia's nursing home residents by working towards optimum levels of compassionate and competent staffing, creating public awareness of this need, and to seeing that laws designed to protect the well-being and safety of our vulnerable citizens are vigorously enforced. Minimum staffing legislation has been introduced in the Virginia Senate and has been supported by many members of AUUC through calls, e-mails and letters to legislators.
You can help our frail, elderly citizens simply by being available to contact your legislators when important issues and legislation are being considered. Please contact Jan Clement to add your name to our growing list of people who support this effort. Virginia's legislators need to know that we care about our debilitated elderly and to hear that we believe they deserve to be treated with respect. Our aged relatives and friends who cannot speak for themselves must receive compassionate and competent care now; they do not have the time to wait.
Further information can be found on our website: www.tlc4ltc.org
Prior to every election, we provide information to help AUUC voters get registered or get absentee ballots, learn more about the questions that will be on the ballot, and find out where the local candidates stand on the issues. Upon request, we can provide information and maps on polling locations as well as the names and websites of your district legislators. We can even provide transportation assistance to help voters get to the polls.
For some elections, we assist local organizations in getting out the vote and educating voters regarding issues about which we deeply care, such as our opposition to the marriage amendment. Some of us work at the polls on Election Day as election officials or poll watchers. We organize events at the church to hear the candidates speak. We always provide literature and candidates from both major parties and do not officially take a stand on candidates or parties, just the issues
So these are some of the projects where we've committed money. Now we need planners, organizers, and sleeve roller-uppers to commit time and energy. Money alone can't get these jobs done. And some of these projects need only our labor, such as our "Adopt a Highway" program that cleans up a neighboring roadway, gets us together for a fun outdoor activity, and gives us a highway sign to increase awareness of AUUC.
Please volunteer to help out on the committee or join us to contribute to any one of these worthwhile causes. Watch for newsletter announcements of monthly Social Justice Meetings and other planned activities. Our pledge campaign theme was "Stepping up and stepping out". The financial commitment shows we've stepped up. Now we need your help to step out into our community and the world. Contact Claire Brown or any other member of the committee for further information.
The Social Justice Committee is pleased to announce that we are again sponsoring the Peace Award. This award will be presented to two students at Robinson Secondary School who have made a substantial effort toward achieving peaceable resolutions to a conflict or conflicts in the high school or the larger community.
Here are some guidelines:
Some examples of items to be considered include:
We are pleased to be sponsoring this award with Herndon Friends Meeting (Quaker), another local religious community. Lisa Hayes and Nancy Davis are representing Accotink on the Peace Award Committee.
Please share this information with Robinson Secondary students you know. We encourage our AUUC youth to apply for the Peace Award. (Local Youth Page) Application Form (PDF)