Thanksgiving Dinner Contribution
for Three Oaks Families
Join our Minister in Providing a Thanksgiving Meal for Three Families
Thanksgiving will be upon us so soon.
We all are thankful for the homes we have and the special dinner we will
share with loved ones. Some of us may just cozy up with a book on that day --a
wonderful respite from a busy life.
There are many people in the community that will not be as
comfortable. They have shelter but
find the pressures of the holiday season very demanding. Many have children with meager resources for a Thanksgiving
Feast.
Our minister, Lori Staubitz, will be leading the giving for
these special people by providing three turkeys for three families in the
Southern Maryland Community as a start in providing all the fixings for a
Thanksgiving feast. Our children will be
sponsoring this food drive under the direction of Steve Castles.
The hope is that our Fellowship will contribute to this beginning and
offer three full baskets for a Thanksgiving meal to people in need.
We will have a box for the food for the three baskets.
Each basket will require certain foods.
The list of foods needed for each of the baskets will be attached to each
basket.
Please sign up for the item
or items you wish to contribute with the form below.
On November 19th, after our service, we will
deliver the baskets with our children. It
will be wonderful to touch the lives of people in our community in such a
personal way.
Feel free to contact Vincenza or Steve if you would
like more information. vincenzacumbo@hotmail.com
or shcastles@comcast.net
Three Oaks Center Thankful
for all UUFSM has Done
Jean Harmon of
the Three Oaks Center is so grateful for the contributions our
Fellowship has made to the Center. She mentioned how touched
she was with the food drive in February and the response of our young
children. She hopes to be a guest at our service on the 19th of
November. Be sure to introduce yourself.
Mittens, Hats and Gloves for
Children
When
asked what the children who are helped by the Three Oaks Center need this
winter, the answer came quickly -- hats, gloves and mittens. Mary
Hunt has been very gracious in volunteering to help with handling the
donations. We will have a special box for donations on December
3rd, 10th and 17th. Whether your knit, crochet or purchase ready-made, your support will be very much appreciated by the families of the
children. Please email vincenzacumbo@hotmail.com
if you have any questions.
Christmas Caroling December
15th at the Three Oaks Center
We are looking for
volunteers and children to participate in Christmas Caroling at the
Three Oaks Center, Friday December 15th. It was very well received
last year by all. Something that took so little time out of our
lives meant so much to others. Please contact vincenzacumbo@hotmail.com
if you would like to participate.
Fair Trade -- We
are continuing to serve and sell Fair Trade coffee, tea, and
chocolate this year. This supports democratically run farm
cooperatives which are assured a fair profit and reasonable
financing help because they follow ecologically sustainable farming
practices. Most of their products are organic because the farmers
manage the soil in a sustainable agricultural system promoting
natural cycles and controls, rather than chemical pesticides and
fertilizers. Many of the coffees are also shade grown, which means
the coffee plants are grown alongside other food crops under a
canopy of taller trees, which helps protect the environment in many
ways.
Certification of Fair Trade, Organic, Shade Grown, and others are
all performed by internationally recognized certification
authorities. Use of these products has been facilitated and
encouraged by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) in
cooperation with Equal Exchange, a U.S. company which was formed in
1986, embracing Fair Trade standards as its guiding principles. UUSC
receives contributions from Equal Exchange and our modest profits
are returned to UUFSM
Above all, our use of these Fair Trade products provides much needed
help at local levels in developing nations. Every product has a
story and our support is part of all those stories!
Where does our help go? Underdeveloped nations such as Ethiopia,
Equador, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, India, Tanzania, Mexico,
Columbia, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, and Costa Rica.
Any questions or comments, contact
Dave Reed at uufsmfairtrade@uufsm.org.
This last year has seen some great activity among the
people of our Fellowship. Here are a few of the highlights.
Three Oaks
Center
Laurie Stone carried the ball with having her Brownie Troop put
together packages of items for children’s summer needs and gave them to the Three
Oaks Center. Lori, our tireless minister, was there for
the event, which led to a great conversation Vi Cumbo had with Leisle Stark
from the Three Oaks
Center. The $1,250.00 from our Fellowship will be given to the Three
Oaks Center
specifically to help families. Vi asked
Leisle what she would be doing with the donation, and she said she would be buying beds,
mattresses, sheets, blankets and towels.
There is a big need for these items amongst the families.
Christmas in April – Nearly
a dozen UUFSM members pitched in with a Christmas In April crew to help
repair, fix, and paint a house on Route 5 north of St. Mary's College.
Much raking and landscaping was done, too, and one of our members was very
instrumental in helping put down a new kitchen floor!! Great work, everyone!
EMAIL
the Social Justice Committee
