Social Action at First Parish
 Social
Action Coordinating Council
The Social
Action Coordinating Council is composed of a chair, a
secretary, a treasurer, and the chair of each working group.
Currently
there are five working groups: Fair Trade Coffee,
Guatemala, the
MetroWest Free Medical Program, Metrowest Interfaith
Hospitality
Network, and the MetroWest Outreach Connection.
Information about
each working group is listed below. If
you would like more information about social action at First Parish in
Framingham, please contact the Parish Office, 508-872-3111.
Green Sanctuary Committee
This committee
was formed in 2005 to look at the
environmental footprint of First Parish, envisioning a commitment to
harmony with the Earth in all our endeavors. We are guided by the Green
Sanctuary program provided by the Unitarian
Universalist Ministry for Earth.
Fair Trade Coffee Sales at
First Parish
One
of our Green Sanctuary action items is to bring the great benefits that
we see in buying fair trade products to many more of you in
the
congregation. We can provide a variety of coffee,
tea,
cocoa and chocolate bars.
Here’s WHY in a
nutshell: you will be supporting human dignity and
welfare, supporting organic agriculture with most
products,
and getting great quality at very reasonable prices.
Furthermore,
you will be supporting the work of the Unitarian Universalist Service
Committee because our supplier, Equal Exchange, donates a portion of
sales to UUSC.
For example, your purchase may be supporting
women coffee producers in Nicaragua, or enabling coffee producer co-ops
in Ethiopia to fund schools, health centers, and clean water in their
villages, or providing survival with dignity to small scale farmers in
Mexico, or providing alternatives to labor on huge tea plantations in
India. Most of these Equal Exchange fair trade products are
organic, and so you will also be supporting biodiversity and wildlife
in the growing areas . There really is no down side to this
connection we have through Equal Exchange!
Here’s
HOW: You can support this Green Sanctuary/Social Action
effort in
one of two ways. (1) You can pick up an order form
during
coffee hour and order your own selection. We have
handouts
describing all the coffees and teas, and chocolate
products. (2) You can buy from
a limited
selection of products we offer at “retail sales”
once every
two months. The church weekly update will have a notice when it is time
to order and when the sales and pick up dates are. In 2009
-10
the approximate dates to order are: mid Sept, mid
Nov., mid
Jan, mid Mar, mid May.
Contact person: Judy Perry judy1of4perry@hotmail.com
Download the
committee's vision statement, in Word
or OpenOffice
format.
More Green
Sanctuary information: public
page, committee
page.
First Parish
is one of thirteen churches in the MIHN
that provides shelter and meals for homeless families; each church does
this four times a year. We started in the summer of
2008 and have received much assistance from our support congregation,
St. Andrews in Framingham.
The guests
arrive about 5:15 p.m. and share a family-style meal with the
volunteers who have prepared it. The guests clean
up and we socialize until bedtime, which is early because the MIHN van
picks up our guests at 6:45 a.m. on weekdays. Two
volunteers spend the night at the church and put out a very simple
breakfast in the morning. The guests spend the day at the Day
Center, which is housed at the First Baptist Church in
Natick. There the director and associate director help them
with their weekly goals, which are focused on finding housing, work,
and/or childcare.
Volunteers
are needed for preparing meals, evening companionship, staying
overnight, grocery shopping, doing laundry, and for setup before the
week and cleanup after the guests move on to another church.
To volunteer, contact Lisa Mihnos, Lymihnos@comcast.net,
508-309-3413
Metrowest Free
Medical Program
With
Seasonal Flu season upon us
and the likelihood of
H1N1Flu spreading, the Metrowest Free Medical Program has developed
protocols
for educating and treating our patients, and protecting volunteers and
congregants from contagion and the spread of illness. Here is our plan:
- Provide educational pamphlets
for all patients describing the symptoms of flu, at- home treatment,
and protection. We
have already begun to do this. We will also be publishing this
information in the English, Portuguese and Spanish newspapers, which
carry our weekly announcements. We
hope to add to the efforts of the CDC and Dept. of Public Health in
educating the public about protection of themselves and others from the
spread of flu (such as with good hand washing techniques). We also want people to
know who can safely be cared for at home and when and where to seek
medical attention.
- Anyone with a cough and fever,
body aches or other Flu–like symptoms will not be seen at the Free
Medical Program. Patients
will be told when appointments are confirmed that if they experience a
cough and fever, body aches, or other Flu-like symptoms that they
should reschedule their appointment.
Those who do come to the program will be
instructed to go to the ER or given home care instructions, depending
on the clinical judgment of our practitioners.
- We will be offering Seasonal Flu
shots at the Free Medical Program and holding clinics in conjunction
with the Sudbury Board of Health.
We will do this for both
seasonal flu and H1N1 as vaccine becomes available.
We of course urge EVERYONE in our
Congregation to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
It will be mandatory for all Medical
Program volunteers to be vaccinated.
- Our Medical staff will work
closely with the Dept. of Public Health and the CDC to make decisions
about closing the Medical Program as the Flu season progresses.
Food Pantry
We collect
the following items and donate them to
area food pantries: non-perishable food such as peanut butter, cold
cereal, hearty soups; canned hams, tuna, and chicken; juice and juice
boxes; Parmalat (boxed milk); beans; macaroni and cheese that can be
microwaved.
Metrowest Outreach Connection Inc.
Metrowest
Outreach Connection, Inc., an all-volunteer, non-profit organization
that has 2 programs. The Homeless Prevention Program provides
financial assistance to eligible families and individuals who are in
danger of eviction, foreclosure or are currently homeless.
This assistance helps clients to remain in their homes and for
those that are homeless, acquire permanent
housing. Preventing homelessness is the most
cost-effective alternative to housing families in motels or
shelters. The other program, Health Through Housing, is a
program to help victims of domestic violence and avert homelessness.
The connection between domestic violence, homelessness and poor health
is well documented. Funding for
these programs comes from grants, donations, and fundraising
activities. Contact people: Myrna Howe
781-235-4226 Valerie Waldman
508-877-7769
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