2nd Sunday Collections
May 13, 2012: San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission
WHAT AN AWESOME START!
At the end of this week, we will be sending the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission the first of our 3 2nd Sunday collections - $808.00! Thanks to everyone who pitched in. How about topping that on May 13? Here’s what we have planned:
As a part of our 3-month commitment to the SFValley Rescue Mission, a local shelter and comprehensive program that serves the homeless, we will take up our second 2nd Sunday collection on Sunday, May 13. On that day, and for the following couple of Sundays, we will have our Mission table set up after church in the Fellowship Hall – and a big box for our May project donations. So please come visit and learn more about the Rescue Mission, our May project, and our plans for hosting a dinner for the residents in June. We will welcome volunteers to help out with that one, so think about signing up! It’s gonna be a blast!
Our project for May is to help the Mission provide hygiene articles for their residents – it’s one of the categories on their wish list. To that end, can you bring in a couple of things on the list below anytime during May, but particularly on May 13, 20 and/or 27? Here’s the list, and we will have a bite-size version of it at the Mission table that you can take with you.
Socks, men’s and women’s; Deodorant; Bottled Body Wash (travel size preferred); New men’s underwear (36, 36, 40); New women’s undies (5 and 6, XS and Small) and bras (34B, 34C, 36B); Baby wipes; and Umbrellas.
Thanks from Social Action.
April 8, 2012: San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission
Sunday, April 8 will be the first of three 2nd Sunday collections devoted to a single organization. Considering the answers to our recent congregation questionnaire, which were squarely in the realm of Food and Shelter, we decided to go with the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission for the months of April, May and June. In addition to providing these core life-sustainers, this organization has many opportunities for hands-on volunteering and puts out a monthly list of particular items they need. As a component of this longer relationship with our 2nd Sunday collection recipient, we will be organizing an event or two based on what they need. So in addition to our collections, stay tuned for other ways you can get involved.
Thanks from Social Action
March 11, 2012: Tree People
We’re celebrating Earth Day just a little early this year, and today is the day for our 2nd Sunday collection. So all your financial donations this morning will go to TreePeople, an environmental nonprofit organization that pulls together the power of trees, people and technology at its flagship station at Mulholland and Coldwater and via projects throughout the city. Please make out checks to UUCSC and we will make sure it is included in our church check to TreePeople.
At www.treepeople.org you can find out how you too can plant a tree or help out as a volunteer. If you have an organization you would like to recommend for our 2nd Sunday Collection, please take a look at our form on the Narthex bulletin board, read the guidelines, fill it out, and drop it back in the large envelope provided. Thanks from Social Action.
February 19, 2012: Guest at Your Table
Welcome your guest
By welcoming a Guest at Your Table, you are helping nurture a spirit of gratitude and the UU values of justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. Guest at Your Table fosters understanding and awareness of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s human-rights work and our shared belief in social justice.
Participate together
Place your Guest at Your Table box where you share your meals and keep it there for several weeks. When enjoying meals with family and friends, read a story or two from Stories of Hope, which can be downloaded here: http://www.uusc.org/files/2011-2012_Stories-of-Hope-Booklet.pdf. These stories will connect you to real people who are involved in the daily struggle for human rights. Telling the stories of their hopes and dreams is a meaningful way to bring these special guests into your home.
Share your blessings
At mealtimes, insert coins or bills into your Guest box, as if sharing with your guests. On February 19, bring your box with you to the service. If your final gift totals $100 or more, it will be eligible to be matched dollar for dollar through a grant from the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset, N.Y.
To see who your gifts will be helping, please go online to:
http://www.uusc.org/guest/donations
January 8, 2012: San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission
On the second Sunday of each month, the collection goes to a local organization (or a special fund, in the case of a national disaster). Today, the collection will go to the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission which, with the support of the surrounding community, offers: Food, shelter, clothing and a hot shower for those in need, as well as many programs designed to get men, women and families back on their feet and back into the community as independent and self-sustaining people. If you are donating by check, please make it out to UUCSC with “2nd Sunday Collection” or “Donation” on the memo line. And if you would like to suggest an organization, please take a look at the guidelines on the Social Action bulletin board in the Narthex and complete the form. Thanks to everyone for their generosity in tough times.
December 24, 2011: Children of the Night
As in past years, the 2nd Sunday collection in December will be taken at the two services on Christmas Eve. This year, the proceeds from our two collections will go to Children of the Night, a local organization (actually, housed in the renovated old Van Nuys Post Office building) that assists children between 11 and 17 who are forced to go into prostitution in order to have food and shelter. In fact, it has 24 of the 29 beds available in the entire United States for such children. Since its founding by Lois Lee, who sheltered a couple of at-risk teens more than 30 years ago, it is estimated that Children of the Night has rescued more than 10,000 young people from the cruel lifestyle of prostitution. All programs are supported by private donations; they receive no government funds.
Social Action
November 13, 2011: UUA's Association Sunday
Where will the collection go on November 13, our 2nd Sunday?
Social Action breaks its usual criteria guidelines once a year to donate our collection to the UUA’s Association Sunday, an event held by congregations across the country at this time of year.
Association Sunday funds leading-edge projects and initiatives designed to further strengthen and grow Unitarian Universalism (could be one of ours!), increasing the UUA’s capacity to carry out its mission, expand its reach, and cement the pledge that each of us makes as a UU to nurture mutual trust and support.
If you will be paying by check, please make it out to UUCSC with Association Sunday or 2nd Sunday on the memo line. Thank you.
October 9, 2011: The Trevor Project
To coincide with National Coming Out Day, the 2nd Sunday collection on October 9 will go to The Trevor Project, which operates three core programs that provide life-saving and life-affirming resources for LGBTQ youth and create safe, accepting and inclusive environments for all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. One of these programs, The Trevor Lifeline, is the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention lifeline for LGBTQ youth. It is a free and confidential service that offers hope and someone to talk to, every day, at any time. Each year, tens of thousands of calls are fielded from young people across the country. The Trevor Lifeline is accredited as an exemplary crisis intervention program by the American Association for Suicidology (AAS). Their new offices have just opened on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood.
September 11, 2011: UU Service Committee - Crisis in Africa
In light of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Somalia and other countries in East Africa, the UU Service Committee has launched a multifaceted program to provide immediate relief to Somalis suffering from the famine, as well as to support communities hosting Somali refugees in other countries affected by the mounting devastation. While remembering devastation in our own land on this day, we will take up our collection for those in long-term need in East Africa. Please, as always, give as generously as you are able, and if you are making out a check, put “UUCSC” or “2nd Sunday” on the memo line and we will make sure your contribution is forwarded to the UUSC Somalia & East Africa Relief Fund.
Thanks from Social Action
August 14, 2011: Valley Interfaith Council’s Food Pantry Coalition
Our collection on Sunday, August 14 will go to the Valley Interfaith Council’s Food Pantry Coalition. Due to the deepening recession, food pantries are facing the greatest need and demand for food seen in decades; thousands of individuals, families and seniors are becoming “food insecure” and are being added to the pantries’ rosters each month. Even highly skilled professional people who are confused and unprepared for the circumstances in which they now find themselves are turning to the Valley’s food pantries for help.
One consequence of this growth trend is that the pantries, as with the larger food banks, are unable to keep their shelves stocked and lack the necessary food staples, protein, healthy fresh fruits and vegetables that constitute a nutritious meal. VIC’s Food Pantry Coalition needs funds to purchase protein foods, fresh dairy and produce in order to sustain their 12 Valley sites and provide meals and provisions to those in need. Please dig deep to help our Valley neighbors. And if you are making out a check, make it out to UUCSC with “2nd Sunday” or “VIC” on the memo line.
Thanks from Social Action.
