Social
Justice Task Force Annual Report
A relatively small group of dedicated people provide the direction for Social Justice at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo. There are eighteen on our group email list with usually 5 to 7 attending our monthly meetings, held on the second Sunday of the month at 12:30 in the Community Room.
The Social Justice Task Force theme for this church year is Climate. With that in mind, we have purchased and placed in strategic spots around the church four new recycling bins with a color print out of what is and is not recyclable. Since the City of Buffalo now allows co-mingling of recyclable items, all of the bins are available for all acceptable items. The Task Force feels this will help increase our recycling efforts at UUCB.
We continue to sell fairly traded food products and in November and December, holiday cards. These come from the UU Service Committee. The food items provide a living wage for the farmers who grew them and give continuing revenue to the Social Justice Task Force. With these funds SJTF is able to monetarily help members of our congregation attend denominational activities that they would otherwise not be able to attend.
We place and supervise the Food Pantry Baskets at the two entrances to the church and take items donated to the Network of Religious Communities food pantry at 1272 Delaware Avenue.
We educate parishioners about “green “solutions and upcoming activities that are in agreement with our UUCB principles and practices. Toward this end, we co-sponsor meetings of other organizations which help further these principles, such as the League of Women Voters and The Sierra Club.
We coordinate the Share-the-Plate program, now in its second year, which gives half of the unrestricted money from the collection plate each month to a selected 501c-3 or 4 organization. The selection process is open to all members and friends in the congregation.
A group from UUCB provides residents with English tutoring at Vive la Casa. This is the second year of this program. We were honored to receive a Christian Service Award from Vive la Casa last June.
The Family Promise group continues at UUCB. Every thirteen weeks families struggling with short-term homelessness are welcomed to our church. Comfortable accommodations are provided in the basement religious education rooms for each family. Family style meals are prepared by parishioners and served in the Church Library. Overnight and weekend security and companionship are provided, also.
A new program called Restorative Justice is meeting at UUCB with several members participating.
Respectfully submitted,
Ellen Moomaw, Chair
A relatively small group of dedicated people provide the direction for Social Justice at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo. There are eighteen on our group email list with usually 5 to 7 attending our monthly meetings, held on the second Sunday of the month at 12:30 in the Community Room.
The Social Justice Task Force theme for this church year is Climate. With that in mind, we have purchased and placed in strategic spots around the church four new recycling bins with a color print out of what is and is not recyclable. Since the City of Buffalo now allows co-mingling of recyclable items, all of the bins are available for all acceptable items. The Task Force feels this will help increase our recycling efforts at UUCB.
We continue to sell fairly traded food products and in November and December, holiday cards. These come from the UU Service Committee. The food items provide a living wage for the farmers who grew them and give continuing revenue to the Social Justice Task Force. With these funds SJTF is able to monetarily help members of our congregation attend denominational activities that they would otherwise not be able to attend.
We place and supervise the Food Pantry Baskets at the two entrances to the church and take items donated to the Network of Religious Communities food pantry at 1272 Delaware Avenue.
We educate parishioners about “green “solutions and upcoming activities that are in agreement with our UUCB principles and practices. Toward this end, we co-sponsor meetings of other organizations which help further these principles, such as the League of Women Voters and The Sierra Club.
We coordinate the Share-the-Plate program, now in its second year, which gives half of the unrestricted money from the collection plate each month to a selected 501c-3 or 4 organization. The selection process is open to all members and friends in the congregation.
A group from UUCB provides residents with English tutoring at Vive la Casa. This is the second year of this program. We were honored to receive a Christian Service Award from Vive la Casa last June.
The Family Promise group continues at UUCB. Every thirteen weeks families struggling with short-term homelessness are welcomed to our church. Comfortable accommodations are provided in the basement religious education rooms for each family. Family style meals are prepared by parishioners and served in the Church Library. Overnight and weekend security and companionship are provided, also.
A new program called Restorative Justice is meeting at UUCB with several members participating.
Respectfully submitted,
Ellen Moomaw, Chair