Social Justice
Broadway Christian Parish Meal Team
One of the ways UUFE reaches out to those in need in our Michiana Community is through the efforts of the Broadway Meal Team. On six Sundays a year – the second Sundays of the odd months, January, March, May, July, September, & November, - volunteers from UUFE travel to the Broadway Christian Parish Church in South Bend to prepare and serve a Sunday meal for approximately 100 needy individuals most of whom are homeless. The diners range from young children with their mothers to the elderly. All are needy, hungry and very appreciative. Start time is about 9:30 AM at Broadway in South Bend and we are usually finished with clean up at about 1:00 PM.
Jim McConnell originated this outreach for UUFE, but his duties as interim minister at BUUF have kept him away from the regular UUFE services for awhile and, as a result, our numbers have dwindled. We don’t need a large crew – often 6 to 8 volunteers is all that we can keep busy. However, we do need about that many. We have decided to try to organize things in a slightly different way so that we can be sure to have an adequate number of volunteers. We hope to compile a database of individuals who are interested in helping out with the meal team in a couple of different ways.
We are in need volunteers who are willing and able to:
- be available to supply ingredients and help out with preparation and service of meals
- be willing to supply ingredients or money for meals
- be willing to serve as back-ups in case someone is not able to make it on a particular Sunday (Might get a late call!)
If you have helped out in the past, want to help out for the first time, or just want some information, contact Ron or Linda Gill to sign up or be a reserve back up. You can catch us at UUFE or email Linda at LG5573 at aol.com.
Welcoming Congregation
If you are interested in helping out in the work to attain the “Welcoming Congregation” certification for UUFE, showing support of the GLBE (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) community, consider joining the Welcoming Congregation Committee. A small group of UUFE’ers including Pam Kramer, Kathy Vetter, Francisco Avila, and Rev. Amy DeBeck have started the work and are now looking for more assistance in completing the process. Talk with any of the above mentioned people or email Pam at rn_pamela@yahoo.com
Fair Trade Coffee
In our Strategic Plan, we stated that we would begin selling Fair Trade Coffee here at UUFE, both as Social Action & as a convenience to UUFE members . I am happy to announce that we started that in July. The coffee was purchased by us through 10, 000 Villages and is available at our cost: $8.50 for a 12 ounce bag. We have 4 varieties. See Gene Wiswell.
