Sunday, October 17 Awards Banquet
UUSJ Collaborative Social Justice Program Award – Montgomery County Healthcare ACTION, River Road UU Congregation
UUSJ Minister’s Award – Rev Scott Sammler-Michael, Accotink
UUSJ Journey Toward Wholeness Award – DARTT, Diversity Anti-racism Transformation Team, Paint Branch
UUSJ Environmental Justice Award – Carel Hedlund, Towson
UUSJ Lay Leader Award – Michelle and Jeff Kuhn, Washington Ethical Society
UUSJ Innovative Social Justice Program Award – Rainbow Youth Alliance, Rockville
Save the Date, October 17 for the 3rd Annual Social Justice Awards Benefit Gala
We will have a new restaurant, La Panetteria on Cordell in Bethesda The 4 course dinner includes the following main courses:
PETTI DI POLLO MARSALA
Tender breast of chicken sautéed in a marsala wine and mushroom sauce.
Served w/ pasta and vegetables.
RAVIOLI CON PORTABELLO
Pasta stuffed with Portobello mushrooms cooked with green peas in
Tomato or cream sauce.
CAPESANTEE PROVINCIALE
Sea scallops sautéed in aromatic tomato sauce over linguini
RISSOTTO con DELL’AGNELLO
Grilled leg of lamb over Italian asparagus risotto.
TROTA ALLA AMALFITANA
Fresh rainbow trout sautéed with garlic, capers, and parsley in
a light white wine sauce. Served with pasta and vegetables.
Lutherville, Maryland, July 20, 2010 — Today, Interfaith Power and Light announced the winner of this year’s Cool Congregation contest. Towson Unitarian Universalist Church (TUUC), in Lutherville Maryland, accepted the $5,000 cash prize for the most reduction in energy use. Carel Hedlund, Chair of TUUC’s Green Sanctuary Committee, said, “our actions focused on three areas: energy efficiency of our building, educating our members on ways they could make changes in their own lives to reduce their individual footprints, and participating in energy efficiency community projects. We are very excited and grateful to win this prize. Our Board has voted to place the award funds into reserves for further ‘greening’ of the church.”
The Cool Congregation contest challenged participants to calculate a starting carbon footprint, and then compare a year later after making energy saving changes to measure total reductions. The contest was open to approximately 10,000 congregations nationwide. “We wish to congratulate Towson Unitarian Universalist Church for being good stewards of Creation,” said The Reverend Sally Bingham, president of Interfaith Power and Light. “They have demonstrated a real commitment to making their congregation as energy efficient as possible and in the process have provided a wonderful role model for other congregations wishing to address the threat of climate change.”
Towson Unitarian Universalist Church is a 50-year old congregation in suburban Baltimore with many glass windows and skylights. According to Hedlund, they set out to reduce their carbon footprint by first conducting an energy audit. It was no surprise that the audit revealed a need to seal the old windows and the duct system. Hedlund estimates air leakage in the meeting room has been reduced 67% and heating and cooling capacity improved by 25%. Next, they installed solar film on skylights and on a large, southwest-facing window in the sanctuary and swapped out old light bulbs for energy efficient ones. They just recently replaced the front doors and one side door. They also purchased carbon offsets for some staff travel and 50% wind power through their utility. Interfaith Power and Light estimates that TUUC’s total carbon footprint has been reduced by nearly 20%. This is not TUUC’s first environmental award. In April 2009 they were accredited by the Unitarian Universalist Association as a “Green Sanctuary”.
This month, Interfaith Power and Light will launch the 10% Challenge for congregations wishing to follow in the footsteps of Towson Unitarian Universalist Church in reducing total carbon footprint 10% or more. Interfaith Power and Light is a campaign of The Regeneration Project. The mission of Interfaith Power and Light is to assist congregations in being faithful stewards of creation by responding to global warming through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. To learn more visit www.interfaithpowerandlight.org
Saturday, August. 7 10:00am-12noon
2305 Gold Mine Road, Brookeville, MD 20833
Please RSVP! We need to know how many to expect!! moyaatk(at)yahoo.com
Thursday, September 2
Times and Places: tba
On Thursday, Sep. 2, 2010, on the eve of the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) will be releasing a groundbreaking report with a simple prescription for communities in need: More Transit = More Jobs. Written by Dr. Todd Swanstrom of the Public Policy Research Center, who has worked with TEN on previous reports such as The Road to Jobs and The Road to Good Jobs, More Transit = More Jobs will feature:
Rankings of 24 U.S. metro areas by percentage of transit spending
Numbers of jobs each metro area could create by shifting highway spending to transit
Case-studies of the job-creation potential of planned transit projects in key cities
Highlights of top 5 “transit champion” cities and bottom 5 transit spenders
To mark the report release, TEN member organizations in 10 communities and allies from organized labor will hold simultaneous rallies at local unemployment offices around the country on Thursday, Sep. 2. The rallies will highlight the power of transit spending as an engine of job creation and economic opportunity, as well as the larger impact on families and entire communities through access to opportunity.
CONTACTS: Stephen Boykewich, Media Director, Transportation Equity Network
stephen(at)transportationequity.org, 917-686-2426
Laura Barrett, Executive Director, Transportation Equity Network
laura(at)transportationequity.org, 314-443-5915
Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26
Washington, DC
Mountaintop removal coal mining has already destroyed more than 500 of the world’s oldest mountains and defiled more than 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams. It has spoiled the natural beauty and polluted the water supply of countless local communities in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee.
On September 25 and 26, thousands of community and national leaders, Appalachians, environmental justice organizers, and politically active celebrities will assemble in Washington, DC to deliver a unified message: No more mountaintop removal! Appalachia Rising has an event registration on their Web site. It’s time to stop this destruction, which not only destroys Appalachia, but keeps our nation addicted to cheap fossil fuels, at the expense of meaningful development of renewable energy. Judy Bonds, who was forced to abandon her home when Massey Energy built a 9-billion-gallon coal slurry dam on Coal River Mountain, said it best: “Stop bombing Appalachia. We demand an end to the blasting of our ancestral mountains and homes and the poisoning of our streams. We will stand with all Americans to demand clean water for our children and grandchildren.” Learn more about the Sept. 25 – 26 mobilization »
In this year of oil spills, coal mine explosions and freakish weather, the urgent need to make the switch from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy has never been more clear. Yet Congress still can’t seem to get to work on real solutions. Help us motivate them by contributing to our effort to get thousands of people around the region to pledge to “get to work” on steps to reduce their climate impact by 10/10/10. Volunteer at an event (or several) near you>>
Wednesday, August 4 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place NW
Washington, DC 20001
(Entrance on corner of M St NW & 7th St NW)
CALL 877-233-5159 TO REGISTER
Medical and nonmedical volunteers needed www.regonline.com/DCCARE
Attendees will receive preventative primary medical care and will receive information on additional medical resources.You must register. Walk-ins will be seen only on a limited basis Sorry – no guarantee unless you have an appointment. Travelling on the METRO Strongly Encouraged! Yellow & Green lines, Mt Vernon Sq / 7th St – Convention Center stop. Please note: ?This event is for those WITHOUT insurance. Recipients of Medicare, Medicaid or Veterans Administration benefits are not eligible. ?If you are taking medications, please bring your medicine bottles.
Tuesday, September 21 12:00noon
On the United Nations International Day of Peace September 21 people all over the world of many faiths are being encouraged to stop for a minute at noon and pray for peace. Sign a pledge to join them at http://amillionminutesforpeace.org/
Sunday, August 8th
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
RSVP by August 1st
Come join us for an exciting opportunity for people to meet others of various faith traditions over a provided dinner to share their faith experiences in a safe and controlled environment! Dialogues will take place in homes throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area and will be moderated by facilitators!
Hosted by The InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington
To Register for this event please visit http://goo.gl/gymo or email SoYoung Kim at asoyoungk(at)ifcmw.org
This summer, Bread for the City is continuing its exciting new volunteer project: Glean for the City. Twice a week, we’ll head out to regional farms where we’ll glean surplus produce (cherries, corn, apples, etc) that would otherwise be left to waste in the fields.
Through this program, groups of about 20-25 volunteers will bring literally tons of free, fresh and nutritious produce into our food pantry. One group can bring back enough produce to feed 1750 hungry people!
Specifics:
- Saturday mornings.
- Meet at specified farm at 9:30AM.
- Anticipate an hour drive from DC to the farm – volunteers should organize their own transportation. (Driving instructions can be provided.)
- Expect gleaning to last an hour and a half to two hours, and to return to the city between noon and 1pm.
- Farms do not have readily accessible restrooms. Plan accordingly.
- Children under 12 must be closely supervised.
- Bring sunscreen, bug spray, hats and sunglasses, water and snacks, gardening gloves (if you have them)
(Please note that we have a limited number of gleaning trips and volunteer capacity. Preference will be given to self-organized groups of 5 or more people.)
Are you interested in organizing a group of volunteers? Contact vhill(at)breaedforthe city.org.
