The first Get Out the Vote Postcarding Party was a big success. Ten people attended. We completed a lot of postcards and also celebrated Dorine Levasseur’s birthday. At the September 11 Party (Wednesday, 6:00-7:30 pm), we plan to show a 10-minute video on fascistic thinking. We’re scheduling a third Party for Thursday, October 10, 3:30-5:00 pm.
Postcarding parties will be held in the Parish Hall on Wednesday, September 11, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm and Thursday, October 10, from 3:30 - 5:00 pm. We will have postcards from Workers Circle on which we will write messages to swing-state voters who have been identified as often not voting, encouraging them to get to the polls. We mention issues but not candidates. Bring colored pens if you have them, and let Lois Aldrich know you are coming--or just stop by!
The September Cash in the Plate will be donated to the Matthew Mission Food Pantry, Taunton. The goal of the Matthew Mission Food Pantry is fighting hunger with an emphasis on personal dignity – their customers can select what they need from the shelves of the food pantry. Norm Grenier is President of the Matthew Mission Food Pantry.
The Social Justice Choir of Bridgewater will again be exploring issues of civic engagement through song and action. All ages, abilities, and political affiliations are welcome. They will rehearse weekly on Thursdays, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, at the Rondileau Campus Center, Room D17E, at Bridgewater State University. Contact the director, Dr. Sarah McQuarrie, at smcquarrie@bridgew.edu.
The UU Living Legacy Project is offering two powerful pilgrimages to the deep South this fall. The first pilgrimage is 6 days in Mississippi and Memphis, October 15 through 20, for which the registration deadline has been extended to August 31. Note: You must pre-register first with Living Legacy and then register with Educational Travel Adventures (ETA). Scholarship assistance is available.
The Kingston UU Church reports that they have met their fundraising goal for beginning repairs to their vandalized historic church building. UU Middleboro donated the Cash in the Plate from one summer Sunday service to the fund. Many members doubtless made additional contributions of their own. https://www.kingstonuu.org/
The UU church in neighboring Kingston sustained extensive damage in the recent arson and vandalism attack. They have launched a 30-day crowd-funding campaign to help defray the costs of repairing and restoring their 1851 meetinghouse. They are using the platform Faithify, which is grounded in UU values and practices. Their goal is $30,000.
Our sister UU church in Kingston, Mass., was vandalized on July 4th in an apparent act of racist and anti-LGBTQ violence. We stand in solidarity with them and urge our members to attend the community service announced below:
If you are wondering what actions you can take over the summer to help preserve our democracy, the Social Justice Team plans to continue our Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts during July and August. These activities will include post-carding and learning more about our country's electoral system. Anyone who is interested can participate. We do not have the specifics on the post-carding campaign yet but plan to email the details as soon as we have them to those who expressed interest. We have email addresses for those who participated in the April post- carding session.
Narcan Training Narcan training will be given at the church on Monday, June 24, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. The training will prepare participants to respond effectively if someone (visitor, pedestrian, etc.) suffers an opioid overdose/emergency. Narcan nasal spray (an over-the-counter drug) will be made available after the training. There is no charge for this session, and it is available to both congregation and the general public. Protecting Democracy In collaboration with the Workers Circle, our congregation wrote 500 postcards to voters in the Atlanta GA area urging them to vote in Georgia’s May 22 primary.
