NEIGHBOURHOOD Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Social Action Committee news:

UPDATE October 2011

NUUC’s Social Action Committee is mobilizing for another year.

The environment, an inherent respect for the interconnected web of all existence of which we are a part, is a very important focus for NUUC. To integrate all of the community’s initiatives and provide additional support in this area, the Greening and Social Action Committees have merged. The merged group (SAGC) will also continue to pursue humanitarian issues, many of which have become annual events.

See our schedule below for upcoming social action/greening initiatives and stay tuned for Sunday announcements and emails that will let you know how you can get involved.

Social Action	Dates	Contact
Support and promote opposition to Melancthon Mega Quarry	Ongoing	Gwen Lannaman
Membership in East End Refugee Committee (EERC) – will solicit donations of time (e.g. English language support) and household goods for arriving families – sell tickets for EERC fundraiser, Nov. 26	Ongoing	Janet Nanos
Collect warm clothing for homeless	Nov./Dec./Jan.	Kirk Fischer
Collect new underwear for homeless	Nov./Dec./Jan.	Jesse Quarter
Habitat for Humanity Build Day	Date TBD – Feb./Mar.	Kirk Fischer
Continue greening initiatives in response to Greensaver Audit and look for ways to involve our children and youth	Ongoing	Susan Crofts
Incorporate the 6N’s into our kitchen -	Ongoing	Susan Crofts
Continue to cultivate our NUUC Garden – with children’s and youth’s involvement	Ongoing	Susan Crofts
Tree Planting – involve children and youth	Date TBD Spring	Kirk Fischer
“Turn Down the Heat” Sundays – Prizes will be awarded for the most interesting sweaters	Feb.	Susan Crofts
Greening/Environmental Sunday Service	Date TBD Mar./Apr.	Rick Salay
Work with Communications Committee to publicize our Solar Panel Project and other Greening initiatives – to attract new members and be a model in our communities	Ongoing	Rick Salay/Gwen Lannaman
Continue to raise awareness of how NUUC members can reduce their environmental footprint at home – examples: create an art project with the children to involve their parents, table on church landing promotes novel ways to help protect the environment	Ongoing	Susan Crofts
Pride Day – Organize “walkers” for UU contingent	July 1, 2012	TBD

The SAGC is also looking at developing a strategy to help determine what external initiatives NUUC should support and endorse. This is in response to recent requests that we have gotten from organizations like Greenpeace, Amnesty International, the Gaia Centre for Ecospirituality and Sustainable Work and others. Lynn Cockburn will be drafting some guidelines for consideration by the Committee and eventual presentation to the Board – if you have input, please let her know.

The Committee is now meeting every other month during the program year beginning November 16th – the third Wednesday, starting at 7:00 PM at Neighbourhood. All are welcome!

Habitat for Humanity:
February 27, 2010

Jesse Quarter, Pam Skinner, Cynthia Sherwood and Carly Gaylor caulked windows, Gordon Thorne and Michelle Lalonde cut and installed baseboards for a bedroom, Kim and Matti Palonen, Rick Salay and David Phillips took turns reinforcing floors to prevent squeaks, and Gwen Lannaman spent most of the day sitting on the floor scraping up dry wall compound so carpets could be installed (others had their turn at that job too). This is just a sampling of the tasks we undertook as part of NUUC’s Habitat for Humanity Adopt-a-Day on February 27th.

Our day started at 8.00 am with a search for hard hats and work boots that fit. Then we went to work on a four-bedroom home at 20 Hainford Rd. in Scarborough. The work was hard, dirty, but satisfying and many of us got the opportunity to learn new skills, like operating a Skill Saw and using a Power Screwdriver.

Thanks to Leona Ogden, who unfortunately was too ill to join us, Frances MacCusworth and Charles Johnson, all of whom made donations to our team. Leona was very creative – she made donations in the names of family and friends as Christmas gifts. In all we raised $780, most of which will be used to help finish the homes where we spent our day.

At 3.30 pm, after putting away our tools, giving floors one last sweep and returning hard hats and boots to the volunteer centre, we made our way to a nearby Tim Horton’s where we took the opportunity to get a cup of coffee and reflect as a group on what the day had meant to us. Thanks Carly for leading this reflection which ended with a quote from Lill Watson, an Australian aboriginal activist - "If you have come to help me; you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

Thanks to all who participated. It was a great day, a wonderful opportunity to get to know other Unitarians, put into practice our seven principles, and demonstrate our commitment to social action. Plans to organize another Habitat for Humanity Adopt-a-Day are being reviewed by the Social Action Committee. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.