June and September, 2011 — Loaves & Fishes

Loaves & Fishes is our local food pantry, which provides food, clothing, camperships and after-school enrichment scholarships, emergency shelter, resource referral, and other temporary services. Volunteer stewards and a trained mental health worker listen with understanding and empathy to the complex situations of clients and suggest actions to promote independence and increased self reliance.

Loaves & Fishes serves more than 600 families in Ayer, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton, and Shirley. For more information go to www.loavesfishespantry.org. To volunteer, please call (978)772-4627 x300 or email tohelp@loavesfishespantry.org.

Please make checks out to Loaves & Fishes. In addition to cash donations, most needed items are

May, 2011 — Abby's House

This month, the first four Sundays, 80% of the cash from the collection plate goes to to Abby’s House, a multi-service, non-profit organization in Worcester that serves homeless and battered women and children. Abby’s House is committed to ending homelessness, and in this spirit, in addition to the emergency shelter, they also manage service-enriched affordable housing. Abby’s House collaborates with many organizations in the community that provide specific services, such as housing, legal services, mental and physical health services, and education.

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to "Abby's House."

April, 2011 — Growing Places Garden Project

This month 80 % of the cash from the collection plate goes to Growing Places Garden Project. This non-profit founded in Harvard fights food insecurity in low-income households. GPGP donates gardens and provides support services to enable people to grow fresh vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers for themselves and their loved ones. For more information regarding GPGP, please call 978-598-3723 or visit www.growingplaces.org.

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to "Growing Places Garden Project."

March, 2011 — Building Resilience in Kids

January’s Sunday Sharing Our Plate collection will be donated to Building Resilience in Kids

This nonprofit supports children in urban areas near us. Here is some NEWS FROM BUILDING RESILIENCE IN KIDS (BRIK).

BRIK continues to work with urban children and to host college interns in this community- and peace-building process. We are now working with an enthusiastic young teacher and her English language learners -- children who speak English as a second language. Most of them are Hispanic, and some are recent immigrants from other countries. For them, learning writing and reading skills through drums and poems is a crucial step in getting out of the cycle of poverty. But the main goal of drums and poems, building the skills to find and continue good relationships, is the community-building goal. For children in the city, these are the connections that make them resilient - and that keep them from needing a gang to be part of something. In fact, "I feel like I'm part of something " is a direct quote from one of our young participants in Lowell. Your contributions to BRIK pay our interns' stipends and buy supplies we need for our work..

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to "CTI BRIK" or "Community Teamwork INC--BRIK."

February, 2011 — Partner Church

January’s Sunday Sharing Our Plate collection will be donated to our partner church in Magyarandrásfalva, Transylvania (Andreeni, Romania).

This is a farming village in the heart of Romania coming out of an oppressive communistic regime that lasted 50 years, from the end of World War II to Christmas day 1989 when the people overthrew Ceaucescu. Our monies have gone to help build the church, repair the pastor Istvan's home, refurbish the organ. Their next venture is window repair, and repainting the church.

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to "Partner Church Council."

January, 2011 — Partakers

January’s Sunday Sharing Our Plate collection will be donated to Partakers.

Partakers is committed to advancing restorative justice, rehabilitation, and the healing transformation of both prisoners and society. Partakers' mission is to reduce prisoner recidivism through education and civic engagement. A number of members of our congregation volunteer in Partakers’ “College Behind Bars” program. The goal of the program is to provide opportunities and support for inmates to obtain four-year college degrees in prison. A team of volunteers is assigned to a prisoner in Boston University’s Prison Education Program. They act as mentors, supporting prisoners in reaching their goals for academic achievement and personal and/or spiritual growth while they work toward completing their college degree.

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to "Partakers."

December, 2010 — Our Father's House

The December Sharing Our Plate collection on Sundays will be donated to Our Father’s House, a private, non-sectarian agency providing shelter and related services to homeless men and women, with facilities in Fitchburg and Devens. Its programs encourage and assist each guest to become self-sufficient. Professionally trained staff offer client advocacy, assistance in searching for housing and employment, crisis counseling, and referral to community resources.

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to "Our Father's House."

November, 2010 — Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

The November Sharing Our Plate collection will be donated to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). The UUSC works in partnership with local grassroots organizations in the U.S. and around the world to advance human rights and social justice, standing with these communities as they confront unjust power structures and challenge oppressive policies. UUSC focuses especially on issues of race, class, and gender. More information is available at http://www.uusc.org.

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to UUSC.

October, 2010 — UU Urban Ministry

Since 1834, the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry, through its alliances with over 45 Massachusetts congregations, provides ministry-at-large to the disadvantaged of Boston. For nearly 200 years, the UU Urban Ministry has been working side-by-side with Boston's urban communities to create opportunities and instill hope for a brighter future.

The ministry concentrates primarily in out-of-school-time  programming for at-risk youth and shelter for those fleeing domestic violence. They also operate a program focused on providing support for men in transition, including those involved with the criminal justice system. UU Urban Ministry is rooted in direct experience and service with those in Boston who are struggling for better lives. They seek to build bridges of understanding and mutuality so that people in various economic circumstances can work together to effect change, thus creating a human community that is peaceful and just.

For more information, go to www.uuum.org, or call 617-318-6010, or email rcrocker@uuum.org.

Please make Sharing Our Plate checks payable to "Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry."

October, 2010 — The HUUC Glean Team

During the last three weeks of October, the charity for Sharing Our Plate is the HUCC Glean Team. The Glean Team’s mission is to reduce food waste, combat local hunger, and raise community awareness. More than 40 dedicated church members and friends are participating in efforts to squash hunger. This summer the team gleaned at Willard’s farm, the Harvard Farmer’s Market, Harper’s Farm and will soon be gleaning from Roche Brother’s supermarket. The team gathered hundreds of pounds of produce as well as other local products and distributed everything to Loaves and Fishes food pantry and the Community Café in Clinton. 

The Glean Team has gathered so much food each week that the refrigerator in the Fellowship Building, where the food is stored until it can be brought to recipients, is full to bursting.  Much of the money raised from the Sharing Our Plate will go towards purchasing an energy efficient refrigerator that will be located in the Fellowship Building and will be used for Glean Team projects. The Glean Team will be raising money at the Harvard Flea Market by making and selling squash soup and squash bread (made from squash donated by Willard’s Farm). In November they will be hosting a luncheon for the Historical Society’s House Tour. The Glean Team will be applying for a UUA matching grant to fund their activities.  All money raised will be funneled back into the charities which the Glean Team serves. For more information, contact Cary Browse at cbrowse@earthlink.net or call 978.456.8160.

September, 2010 — Loaves & Fishes

Loaves & Fishes is our local food pantry, which provides food, clothing, camperships and after-school enrichment scholarships, emergency shelter, resource referral, and other temporary services. Volunteer stewards and a trained mental health worker listen with understanding and empathy to the complex situations of clients and suggest actions to promote independence and increased self reliance.

Loaves & Fishes serves more than 600 families in Ayer, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton, and Shirley. For more information go to www.loavesfishespantry.org. To volunteer, please call (978)772-4627 x300 or email tohelp@loavesfishespantry.org.

Please make checks out to Loaves & Fishes. In addition to cash donations, most needed items are