Social Responsibility Committee News -
New Approach to Charitable Giving:
Volunteer Work and Shared-Plate Collections
By Libby Vesilind and the Social Responsibility Committee
The UUCUV has a new approach to charitable giving this year: “sharing the collections” at selected Sunday Services. By identifying early in the congregational year those agencies that UUCUV will financially support, the Social Responsibility Committee (SRC) hopes to nurture closer people-to-people ties with these agencies. The three charities selected for this year are COVER, LISTEN, and Good Neighbor Clinic. Each offers many volunteer opportunities, such as carpentry, food preparation, medical and dental services, clerical work, mentoring of children, store sales, stocking a food bank, and shopping for supplies, that will match up well with skills and interests within our congregation.
Visits and Volunteer Opportunities
Rob Shultz, Executive Director of COVER, visited our Oct. 11 Sunday Service and coffee hour to talk with people about COVER’s goals and to share volunteer opportunities on urgently needed home repairs and weatherization projects, as well as in the ReCover Store, located in White River Junction. The store receives and sells used appliances, furniture, building materials, and other household items. UUCUV’s Bob Russell is our liaison to COVER.
The Good Neighbor Health Clinic and Red Logan Dental Clinic, in White River Junction, will be the focus at coffee hour on Nov. 8, with Pat Combs serving as UUCUV’s liaison for this year. The Clinic provides free medical and dental care to Upper Valley residents unable to pay. There is a satellite medical clinic in Canaan, NH. In addition to licensed health care workers, the Clinic also needs volunteers to greet patients, help with forms and scheduling, track medications, file, enter data, prepare meals for evening volunteers, and help with recycling, carpentry, and lawn mowing. At the Clinic’s web site, www.goodneighborhealthclinic.org, is a “Wish List” of supplies needed—an invitation to be a volunteer shopper!
On Dec. 13, we will host a representative from LISTEN, with Rich Greenlee as our liaison. You may be aware of the LISTEN community dinners at St. Paul’s Church, for which the UUCUV has provided “cook teams” for many years. But did you also know that LISTEN operates The Junction, a life skills center? LISTEN provides training and support for those who volunteer to become mentors to children at The Junction. Other volunteer jobs are organizing food drives, stocking shelves at the food pantry, packing emergency food bags, and organizing and selling at the Listen Thrift Stores.
Please make a note that the next shared-plate collections will be Nov. 8 and Dec. 13 Sunday services. Also, on the UUCUV web site (www.uucuv.org) are links to COVER, LISTEN, and Good Neighbor Health Clinic.