May 6th is the date of the next ACAC sponsored event – Prom Prep. This event is put on each year to honor 14 to 18 year old young women who are abused, neglected and usually in foster homes in the L.A.County Department of Child and Family services program and to prepare them for their high school proms. The girls will be given the opportunity to pick gowns and accessories, have their hair and make-up done, have before and after photographs taken and participate in a fashion show if they choose.  They will also be served a delicious and healthful sit-down lunch with white linen and centerpieces.
   This year there will be at least 120 girls taking part. This means that  at least 120  volunteers will be needed to chaperone the girls, and help in many other ways. We are especially anxious for some of our younger women to volunteer this year to help the girls feel more comfortable and at ease. It is an especially rewarding volunteer activity that includes opportunities to help in many ways: chaperoning, setting up, manning various stations, clean up , etc.
   The following things are needed and if you have any or can help locate them, please contact Donna Mae Pitluck. Items needed:

•    Youthful fashion jewelry and accessories (purses, shawls)
•    New or like new party shoes
•    Youthful, new or barely used prom style dresses
•    Donations of make-up kits and other items for the guest gift bags
•    Professional make-up artists and hair stylists

   We would like to have at least 15 volunteers by April 15th. Donna Mae can be reached by email:  standm3@gmail.com.

   Thank you for coming to the “Kick-Off Canvass Brunch” last Sunday.  It was wonderful to see you enjoying the food and visiting with each other.
   It took many to bring this event together, and I want to thank all who contributed the quiches, fruit, bagels, salad, and their time to help prepare, serve and set up and take down. Enjoy this time, hearing from a canvasser and having a conversation about ALL the wonderful activities here at UUCSC.
Laurel Ross, Chair Stewardship
Judy Leslie, Gil Shorr, Sherrie Lucas,
Greg Golden, Vickie Vining, Ken Ross, Gene Balas

   We are in need of volunteers to help us provide special refreshments for our social hour after church on April 22nd (our first meeting with the Rev. Darrel Richey).  If you can make 3-4 dozen finger sandwiches (2 slices of bread will make 4 sandwiches) or homemade cookies (brownies, etc.), please let Maryalice Jordan-Marsh (jordanma@usc.edu) or Donna Mae Pitluck (standm3@gmail.com) know by April 15th.

   A new ACAC (Adopt a Child Abuse Caseworker) birthday poster (for April, May and June) has been posted on the bulletin board in the narthex.  Please choose a child for whom you wish to provide a gift.  Don't forget to pencil in your name on the child's cupcake so that we can be sure that each child will receive a gift.  Please include with your gift (unwrapped in a gift bag) a cake mix, frosting and candles.  Bring the gift to church before the birth date and leave it with Donna Mae Pitluck or in the office. The Social Action Committee thanks you all for your generosity.

   Did you leave a bowl, spoon, or platter? We have grown a new pile of stuff. We will set out a table for the next two weeks at coffee hour and please stop by to pick up a forgotten “friend.” Left over items will be considered a donation to the church.
   Please be green and considerate. We like to wash all of our cups in the dishwasher to help make sure we don’t share germs while we share time together. If you are going to want to keep your coffee mug after 12, please bring your own travel mug to church. Saves us washing it, lets our volunteers go home at a reasonable time, and you get the fuel you need for your committee work. The playground parent group starts the last dishwasher load at about 12:15pm, so if you think there will be a bunch of last minute coffee mugs, let them know you’ll start the dish washer instead. Thanks for helping us all find a balance between health, green and service.

If anyone has a household steamer that could be loaned to the Kitchen Committee for a trial run at sanitizing the countertops, etc., please contact Alexis Rodriguez (dekalexis@yahoo.com).  We're looking for chemical free ways to keep everyone healthy, and would love the chance to try this out before purchasing. Thanks!

   Special Projects Grants will be awarded twice a year to groups that have a commitment to a new project that will advance the church’s mission and vision. These are one time only grants for up to $1250 to get a project off the ground. The deadline for the second round of grant applications is March 25th. Applications and a detailed description are available in the church office. After they are reviewed, the qualifying projects will be brought to the congregation for an open discussion on April 15th. After Candidating Week, we will schedule the vote and award by May 1st.  For any questions please contact Jenny Ashe at flyingjenny@earthlink.net

   We'd like to invite you to join the Easter Canned Food Drive! Instead of plastic eggs filled with candy, our older kids hunt for cans of food with egg-shaped labels taped to them on Easter. All of the cans of food we collect and hunt are then donated to our local food bank. But it all starts with you! Please bring small cans (to make it easier for small arms to gather), and deposit them in the large basket in the Narthex on Sundays. We appreciate your help!
Thank you,
Jill Herbertson

We often hear people talk about our church as being a second family to them. Like a family, we all need to chip in our fair share to keep the family operating and thriving. As you contemplate what financial support you're able to pledge to your church family this year, you might want to think about the church's place in your priorities. How does the amount of your pledge compare to the amounts you spend on other things such as your cable bill, your cell phone costs, eating out, new clothes, the latest tech devices, etc.? In difficult financial times, we all have to make choices about what is most important to us. We can all think about what the church means to us in comparison to the other things we spend money on. Are we putting our money where our heart is?

   At the Congregational Meeting on February 26, it was decided that we would proceed with installing a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in our church building. The cost will be approximately $41,000 and the money will be borrowed from the Endowment Fund and will be repaid over a 3 year period at 1% interest.
   While this is an exciting step for our congregation, we need to approve a plan for raising the money to repay the loan. On Sunday, April 1, immediately following the service, we will have a special congregational meeting to approve a three-year campaign to repay the loan for the HVAC system. The board will be working on the details of this plan and will be distributing this information to the congregation for consideration prior to the April 1 meeting.
   If you have questions, please see me or one of the other board members.
Reid Swanson
President, Board of Trustees

   UUs from Southern California, Arizona and Nevada will be gathering at UU First Church in downtown L.A. on April 27th and 28th for the Pacific Southwest District Assembly (PSWD-DA).  Some of them will be looking for Home Hospitality to make their stay affordable.  They'll be arriving on Friday, April 27th, and leaving Saturday evening or (more likely) sometime Sunday.
   Particularly, those of us living close to the North Hollywood or Universal City Metro stations, which connect quickly to the Vermont-Wilshire station close by First Church, would be ideal hosts.
   All we're asking for is a friendly place to sleep and and a sanitary facility.
   If you're willing to risk a brief adventure with a fellow UU, contact Rev. Mike Young—(207) 313-7232, or mailto: revmike@uustudiocity.org.

We have moved the name tags to the front porch.  This will give us a little more elbow room in the Fellowship Hall, and encourage us to wear them so we are more accessible to visitors and newcomers.

The Community Garden is HAPPENING! It is an interfaith project with the Jewish congregations that share our building. (Check out our webpage under "Get Involved.") We're having a work party on March 19, 2012. Contact Jeanne McConnell (in the UUCSC church directory) if you're interested in being a part of this exciting project to benefit people who are food insecure in our midst.

See the Community Garden page for more details.

Items on the agenda:
1.    Election of Officers. Positions to be filled at the meeting:
a)    Vice-President
b)    Treasurer
c)    Administration Council Chair
d)    Two members of the Nominating Committee
e)    Two members of the Endowment Committee
The Nominating Committee will present a slate of candidates for these elected positions (see the separate report of the Nominating Committee). Nominations may also be made by members from the floor on the day of elections, provided the nominee has consented to serve.

2.    Announcement of second round of Program Council Special Project Funding
An update on the status of projects funded in November and an opportunity to ask questions and get information about the process for funding the second round of projects.

3.    Congregational Decision regarding Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)Proposal
As per discussion at the November 2011 meeting, the heating system is currently not working in the back of the building and the heating system in the rest of the building is also in questionable condition.  The Building and Grounds Committee has solicited bids for upgrading the system to not only heat but also air-condition the building. The goal is to accomplish this using "green" technology. The cost will be approximately $40,000. See page 4 for detailed information. At the meeting we will consider this in two steps:

Step One: Do we want to upgrade the system to not only heat but also air-condition the building?

Step Two: Assuming the answer to Step One is yes, how will we fund this? This would entail discussion and agreement on how to proceed.

Possible options include:
1.    Taking out a loan from a financial institution. Interest rates are low, we owe nothing on the church property and could repay over time.
2.    We could borrow the money from the Endowment Fund and repay with interest.
3.    We could ask for the $40,000 from the Endowment Fund. It could be argued that this use is in compliance with the mission of the Endowment Fund, which the by-laws state as follows: " The Endowment Fund shall be used to support the mission of this Church and of Unitarian Universalism.”
4.    We could ask each member and friend when they make their pledge for the funding of the church for the next fiscal year to make a second pledge for the HVAC system. The Board and Finance Committee would determine how to fund the balance.
5.    We could conduct a special fund-raising campaign for the HVAC system, soliciting pledges and payments until we reach the $40,000 target.
6.    We could work to raise $20,000 and apply for a Spirit Level Foundation grant for matching funds.
7.    If we can get a minimum number of members to become Chalice Lighters, we would be eligible to apply for funding from the PSWD program.
8.    There may be an entirely different funding option we have not realized yet.
 

   It's our turn to host the Vespers service and I am calling out for help! We are going to do a picnic style of food and fellowship after the service. Please let me know if you will be able to bring 6 - 10 sandwiches. I have peanut butter and egg salad but would love some veggie/cheese & different cold cut ones. If you have a favorite, or a particular dietary need, please bring some to share. Fruit, cupcakes, tea and coffee are being provided. One other clean-up person would be great.
~Andrea Brooks (goldylocks2you@yahoo.com)

   Dear Congregation, What a great time to be a Member or Friend of our church – so many people with great ideas – have you counted how many are blossoming lately? When we voted to finally install air-conditioning, we gave ourselves a gift, no doubt about that, but we also invited those who are ready to tie the knot, to do it coolly and with spiritual grace right here in our Sanctuary. And when they and we emerge from the building, there will be our “new” garden, with our Seven Principles marking our steps along the winding pathway from the arch on Rhodes Avenue right through to the Community Garden already showing great progress on the east side. It’s going to be a new future at our church and so beautiful. So do we have the faith to pull these projects off? What better place for faith than here! And how is our will to succeed doing these days? We could say it’s flourishing right along with our progress. And our generous pledges to each other during the Canvass starting April 1 will ensure this bright and shining future will be for us and our community, by us and because of us. So let’s keep our vision in our minds as we do the work for the future of our church – be generous and prosper!
~Gil Shorr

Bring your cut Christmas trees to UUCSC after Christmas and we will recycle them and use them for mulch on the church grounds and for our yule logs next year. Trees should be dropped off in the area between the playground and the adjacent apartment building, south of the back parking lot, between January 2nd and 20th. This is an “in-house” service that we are experimenting with for this year. If it is successful, we may expand it to include neighborhood Christmas trees, but for now only UUCSC members and friends, please!
Jan Scow (818) 789-9127

Gene, Dorothy and Erica have been appointed to help me – and the congregation – stay focused on the tasks we need to get done to prepare the congregation for the coming of a Settled Minister. I want to know where attention is needed in that preparation. If you become aware of issues that I need to know about, please call me or one of these team members. We want to present your new minister with an even more alive and dynamic congregation than you already are:

Gene Herd geneherd@roadrunner.com
Dorothy Balisok dbalisok@pacbell.net
Erica Steakley erica.steakley@gmail.com
and me
Rev. Mike Young revmike@uustudiocity.org

~Rev. Mike Young

   Do you sing? Play an instrument? Do you find performing your music to be a spiritual practice? Come share your amazing talents with the congregation. Our new music director, Nancy Holland, would love to include you in Sunday worship services. The new Music Committee is compiling a list of all those interested in such an opportunity. Please contact any member of the committee to be included in this list.
   The Music Committee: Leslie Schipa, chair, Wendy Hawker, Gene Herd, Judy Leslie, Donna Mae Pitluck, Laurel Ross, Eilene Schmidt, Jordan Weeks (contact info in the Directory)

   So many new and exciting things are happening with the music in our church. In order to keep things moving and organized, the Music Committee has been reformed. While we are composing a charter, we are hard at work supporting our new music director, organizing musicians within our church, and starting a concert series. Though we have a core group started, we are open and enthusiastic to receiving new members interested in growing our music program. If you have any questions, please contact Leslie Schipa, committee chair at la.schipa@gmail.com. We will be meeting the first Friday of each month at 11am (next meeting October 7th).
   If you are not interested in joining the committee but you have questions or comments about the music, any member of the committee will be happy to speak with you. Thank you all.

The Music Committee: Leslie Schipa, chair, Wendy Hawker, Gene Herd, Judy Leslie, Donna Mae Pitluck, Laurel Ross, Eilene Schmidt, Jordan Weeks

   After quite a few years without a clear way to ensure that we have great childcare available at church events, we are putting a procedure in place. It's a collaboration between our Director of Religious Exploration, Office Administrator, Minister, Board, and Event Planners!
   But most importantly it won't work without adult volunteers who will be providing childcare at church events alongside our SafeSitter trained teenagers.
   Can we call on you to provide care to our youngest UUs at church events? Please contact me if this is a way you would like to be of service.  
~Jill Herbertson
Director of Religious Exploration

Cottage meetings are one of the ways we find out from the congregation who we are and what we are looking for in in a minister. Meetings will be 6-8 members and friends in the home of a member or friend, and will begin August 14th. Please sign up for your preferred date either with a member of the Ministerial Search Committee after church, or look for an email to come out soon. We’re aiming for as close to 100% participation as possible with both the meetings and the survey.

At the request of the Ministerial Search Committee (MSC), the Board of Trustees (BOT) has called a special congregational meeting. The agenda of the meeting will include the following items:

1. What should the compensation package be for our next settled minister?
2. How should this compensation package be funded?

Specifically, the BOT will be recommending a compensation package with background information about that recommendation. The BOT will also be offering various funding scenarios for that package. The intended outcome of the meeting is for congregation approval of a total compensation package as well as agreement about how to raise the monies to fund that compensation package. These decisions are crucial for the MSC as they prepare documents for prospective minister candidates. Details regarding these two agenda items will be forthcoming.

- Reid Swanson, President, BOT

Our “Back to School Supplies Drive” has begun and will last through August 21st.  This year the same things are needed including: new backpacks, three-ring binders, new pencils, colored pencils, crayons, erasers, pencil sharpeners, 3-hole lined notebook paper, spiral notebooks, pencil bags that fit into three-ring binders, “pee-chee” style folders, and calculators. Any other supplies, such as rulers, paper clips, glue, etc. are equally welcome. Please bring the items on the listed Sundays. There will be a basket labeled “ACAC School Supplies” in the Narthex every Sunday starting next week.

There will also be a “shopping spree” on August 20th, although we don’t yet know the location. As soon as I know I will start recruiting volunteers. Please be available if you can!

Thank you all for your continuing generosity.

~Donna Mae Pitluck, Social Action Committee