by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Justice Actions
by Edith Ball, Chair
We will have a basket placed at the back entrance of our church during May to collect blankets for CAUSE, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, in Oxnard. These blankets will be donated to their clients who are farm workers.
As we can see when we visit the CAUSE website (causenow.org), “CAUSE is working to pass a Farmworker Bill of Rights, a comprehensive policy in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties to tackle the harsh labor conditions all too common for workers in the fields of the Central Coast,” along with other campaigns.
Your donation of blankets will be greatly appreciated.
Contact Michael Akseven makseven@yahoo.com or text 805/208-0344
by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Inreach/Outreach News
May 6: ACLU Foundation The ACLU’s Summer Advocacy Institute brings together a diverse group of students entering their junior and senior years of high school from across the United States to participate in an advanced, firsthand learning experience for the next generation of social justice advocates. In an intensive 8-day program, students will learn directly from lawyers, lobbyists, community activists, and other experts working to defend the civil rights and liberties critical to a free and open society. Tuition is $2,895, so it is imperative scholarships be available for the many talented and committed students with financial need.
May 13: National Center for Science Education (NCSE) works with teachers, parents, scientists, and concerned scientists at the local, state, and national level to ensure topics that are socially but not scientifically controversial—in particular evolution and climate change—are taught accurately, honestly, and confidently. NCSE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Teachers.
May 20: CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy), a Ventura based nonprofit that reaches out to and trains and supports youth, adults and families to speak up for justice! CAUSE works to protect immigrant rights; increase farmworker and other low-wage worker justice; put an end to new fossil fuel power plants locally, protect renters’ rights; advocate for affordable housing and more!
May 24: Heart to Heart houses durable goods from the community so families can “shop” for items they desperately need to provide for the children placed in their care. At no cost to the families, we provide clothes, backpacks, beds, cribs, strollers, baby and child-sized furniture to families who suddenly find themselves taking care of foster children or members of their extended family.
Inreach/Outreach Recipients
Your generosity toward those who ask for our help continues to be amazing.
- March 25: Camp de Benneville – $746.50
- April 1: LUYV: Safe Sleep – $975.75
- April 8: United Way: Thomas Fire Fund – $818
- April 15: Humane Society – $834.95
Thanks so much for all your generous donations!
by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Justice Actions
Dear UUCV Community,
How about a riddle?
It has no name until you name it, no form until you shape it. Touch its spark and let it light you; give it life and it will revive you. (Adapted from a poem by Jane in the Soul Matters packet).
Do you take a guess? It is creativity! How wonderful to think of creativity as something that revives you and sets you alight, so long as you tap into it, and give it a try!
My grandmother was told as a child she couldn’t draw and stopped considering herself creative. In her 50s she found crafting and is now an artist! She makes beautiful paper books, cards, and bookmarks with ephemera, stamps, and more.
Creativity is more about willingness to play than having a particular talent! May this be a call to cultivate creativity and play in innovation, dropping all comparison and expecting to fail along the way.
“Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world.” Brené Brown
How do you share your soul with the world?
Emily Carroll, Director of Religious Education
emily@uuventura.org
by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Finance Committee
• UUCV has approximately 270 members and pledging friends. Their ongoing donations pay for 90% of all church expenses. Church expenses include our programs and the costs of maintaining our building. Due to the generosity of members and friends, past and present, we have no mortgage.
• Fundraisers such as the annual auction and annual crafts sale, unpledged donations and building use fees from nonprofit groups provide the remainder of our income.
• You can make one time donations or set up automatic pledge payments at http://www.uuventura.org, by clicking on “Give” on the right side of the header, click on the picture of the mouse and following the instructions; or contact David Smith at 805/216-9331 or davidpaseo@verizon.net.
by Admin | May 3, 2018 | Building and Grounds
by Linda Pietrzak
Sometimes it takes a while for the obvious fix to a problem evades us all. The Kitchen Cabinet and Building and Grounds have been battling ants on the kitchen counters for a year or so. We have gone through boxes of Terro ant bait. For those of you who are not familiar with Terro, it is a non-toxic ant bait that lures ants to it and then they take the bait back to the nest and the ants all die.
The problem we just realized is that the bail “lures the ants to it.” So, we have been luring the ants to the kitchen counter!! We have relocated the Terro to a place where the ants will not be lured to the counter top. Hopefully the new location will work much better and the ants will not be attracted to the counter tops. Thank you Shelah for thinking of this great idea.
If you have occasion to take the trash out to the trash enclosure at the back of the church property you will surely have noticed how rickety the gates have become. That’s what happens after a few decades. Building and Grounds under the guidance and construction skills of Mike Sixbey is repairing the gates of the trash enclosure and other exterior enclosures. It is a job that has long been needed. Be sure and thank him and all volunteers for all their hard work. Contact Linda Pietrzak: linda.w.pietrzak@gmail.com
