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First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington
 
 

Giving First Recipients

Giving First is a Social Justice program at First Parish Arlington, where 50% of our non-pledge Sunday morning offerings is given to a different charity each month¹.  Toward the end of the church year, we ask the congregation for nominations for recipients for the next church year.  The Social Justice Committee is grateful for our congregation's generosity.  We have donated over $14,500 through this program from November 2009 through November 2010.

¹September 2010's recipient was for emergency relief for Pakistan flooding and delayed the previously selected recipients by a month.

Recipients by Month


2011-2012 Church Year


September 2011:  The ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts

For ninety years, the ACLU has helped define constitutional law and the nature of freedom in our democratic society.  Social movements and court decisions defining what rights meant in practice made the notion of freedom something all Americans could lay claim to.  Thanks in large part to the ACLU's work as "freedom's law firm," the Bill of Rights became a living document that mattered to people's lives.

The ACLU protects your civil liberties:  your rights as an individual to freedom of speech, association and assembly, and to religious liberty.  The ACLU protects the freedom of the press.  The organization works to ensure that you have the right to equal treatment under the law and the right to due process, and that you are free from unwarranted government intrusion into your private life.

The ACLU also fights discrimination and upholds your civil rights.  They are here for everyone, working to ensure that all people in the Commonwealth are treated with equality and fairness.  The ACLU has learned from history that if the rights of society's most vulnerable members are denied, everyone's rights are imperiled.

You can learn more about the ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts at aclum.org .


October 2011:   The Housing Corporation of Arlington's Homelessness Prevention Fund

The cost of living in the greater Boston area ranks among the highest in the country.  Many low- and moderate-income Arlington families struggle with rising housing costs and stagnant wages.  A single crisis, such as hospitalization or temporary job loss, can put many in danger of becoming homeless.  In response to this escalating problem, the Homelessness Prevention Fund was created to provide emergency financial support to Arlington residents facing eviction due to an unexpected crisis.

The Fund provides grants to assist with back rent or security deposits.  Grants are capped at $1,500 and given only in cases in which the assistance will stabilize a resident's housing for at least six months.

The Homelessness Prevention Fund is supported by the generous donations of Arlington residents.  You can learn more about the Housing Corporation of Arlington and the fund at housingcorparlington.org .


November 2011:   The Arlington Food Pantry

During this season of bounty and harvest, it is important for us to remember those who are less fortunate.  The Arlington Food Pantry, since its inception in 1990, has distributed thousands of food items to families in our Arlington community.  The need has increased 25% since last year, as people of all ages use their services.  Families with young children and elders are particularly hard hit this year.  Did you know that one in five of all children in Massachusetts goes to bed hungry?

Financial donations to the Food Pantry are especially needed this year, to help families purchase special items like baby formula, diapers, Depends, vitamins, and nourishing beverages.

We will also be kicking off a food drive later in the month of November to help stock the shelves with canned goods and other non-perishables, as well as personal care products.

To learn more about the Food Pantry, please contact:

arlingtonma.gov/Public_Documents/ArlingtonMA_HServe/pantry/donations


December 2011:   The Cape Verde Children's Fund (CVCF)

The Cape Verde Children's Fund helps to provide Cape Verdean youth access to shelter, nourishing food, safety, education and adults who love them.

Founded in 1973, CVCF is a program of the Justice Resource Institute (JRI), which is now one of the largest and most diverse human service agencies in Massachusetts.  JRI manages mental health clinics; substance abuse programs; HIV prevention services; and residential schools for mentally ill, developmentally disabled, and behaviorally challenging youngsters.

CVCF believes that all children deserve opportunities regardless of their circumstances.  All too often, risky environments keep kids in Cape Verde from reaching their full potential.  Adequate support is necessary to help the children grow to become happy, healthy and productive members of their community.

¹Giving First is a Social Justice program at First Parish, where 50% of our non-pledge Sunday morning offerings is given to a different charity each month.  The Social Justice Committee is grateful for our congregation's generosity.  We have donated over $25,000 through this program since its inception in November 2009.


2010-2011 Church Year


December 2010:  The Children's Room

The Children's Room, located here in Arlington, was the December 2010 recipient.

The Children's Room helps grieving children, teens and families in our community to go on living fully.  It serves families from over 75 cities and towns in Massachusetts.  The Children's Room staff educates teachers, counselors, youth workers and other professionals about how children and teens grieve.

You can learn more about The Children's Room at childrensroom.org.


January 2011:  GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders)

GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders) is our January 2011 recipient.

Since 1978, GLAD’s bold and effective advocacy has achieved scores of precedent-setting legal victories to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression, benefiting individuals, couples, and families across New England and through the United States.

Their major initiatives are:  Civil Rights Project, AIDS Law Project, Transgender Rights Project, and New England Marriage Campaign.  The core of GLAD's work is litigation, carried out by a nationally recognized legal team that strategically pursues impact litigation where it is most necessary and can be most effective.  GLAD attorneys, advocates, and volunteers draft legislation, testify before legislatures, brief lawmakers and candidates, and speak out on LGBT rights issues.  Through their Public Affairs and Education Department, GLAD works to change hearts, minds, and public opinion about the real lives and rights of LGBT people and those living with HIV/AIDS.

For more information on GLAD, visit their website, www.glad.org/


February 2011:  Sudanese Education Fund

SEF is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to helping South Sudanese Refugees who have resettled in Massachusetts to access educational opportunities.  Since the SEF began in late 2003, we have awarded grants to approximately 250 South Sudanese students in Massachusetts.  We have given out over $800,000 in grants for tuition and books, as well as deployed more than 200 computers.

Click Here to learn more.


March 2011:  Pathfinder International

Information is from pathfind.org.

Since 1957, Pathfinder has maintained a fierce belief in the right of women, men, and families to control their reproductive health.  We work to support, extend, and defend that right, even in the face of restrictive laws, repressive governments, and traditional beliefs.

Pathfinder International’s mission is to ensure that people everywhere have the right and opportunity to live a healthy reproductive life.

Reproductive health is essential for creating better opportunities throughout life.  When people take charge of their life choices such as when and how often to have children, they gain confidence and strength.  They can better pursue their education, contribute to the local economy, and engage in their communities.

Pathfinder International places reproductive health services at the center of all that we do—believing that health care is not only a fundamental human right but is critical for expanding opportunities for women, families, communities, and nations, while paving the way for transformations in environmental stewardship, decreases in population pressures, and innovations in poverty reduction.

In more than 25 countries, Pathfinder provides women, men, and adolescents with a range of quality health services—from contraception and maternal care to HIV prevention and AIDS care and treatment.  Pathfinder strives to strengthen access to family planning, ensure availability of safe abortion services, advocate for sound reproductive health policies, and, through all of our work, improve the rights and lives of the people we serve.


April 2011:  The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

Based in Dorchester, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute assists and empowers families impacted by violence by providing support to survivors of homicide.  Applying their peace curriculum in area schools, the Peace Institute works to instill the value of peace in young people.  Through education, collaboration, and policy advocacy, the Peace Institute works to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of violence on the individual, the family, and the community.

The Peace Institute works with schools to develop programs and activities that teach and instill the values of peace and enrich the lives of young people.  It provides services to families by assisting and empowering survivors of homicide victims with tools that not only rebuild their lives but also their communities.  The Peace Institute informs and educates the public about the causes and the consequences of violence on the individual, the family and the community, while transforming the community into an environment where young people are valued by adults and by their peers for their peacemaking efforts.

Each year, the Peace Institute organizes the Mother’s Day Walk for Peace, a pledge walk to raise funds and awareness.  Participants include families of homicide victims, as well as other members of the community who want to eliminate violence and support those who have been victimized.


May 2011:  The Fistula Foundation

From the fistulafoundation.org website

Our Mission is to raise awareness and funding for fistula treatment, prevention, and educational programs worldwide.

We are the largest private charitable foundation supporting fistula treatment globally.

Eradicated in western countries at the end of the 19th century when cesarean section became widely available, obstetric fistula continues to plague women throughout the developing world.  It is estimated that there are 100,000 new fistula cases each year, but the international capacity to treat fistula remains at only 6,500 per year.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates the world's population of fistula sufferers at more than two million.

We believe that no woman should have to suffer a life of shame and isolation for trying to bring a child into the world.  We are dedicated to raising awareness of and funding for fistula repair, prevention, and educational programs worldwide to help eradicate fistula.


June, July, and August 2011:  The Global Brigades, Inc.

Global Brigades, Inc., (GB) is the largest student-led health and development organization in the world.  It was founded in 2004 as a California-based medical not-for-profit organization—Global Medical Brigades—and has since expanded with nine different disciplines across the health and development sector.  Its mission is to empower volunteers to facilitate sustainable solutions in under resourced communities while fostering local cultures.  GB works toward this goal through student-led service trips to developing areas to connect American students with developing communities and give everyone involved the tools to make a difference.

Today, Global Brigades can truly be deemed a movement, empowering American students, engaging local communities, and growing at a rapid rate.  “Brigade” is defined as a group of students mobilizing for social change, and the organization engages more than 12,000 annual volunteers from countries across North America and Europe.  In the United States, where Global Brigades has the largest volunteer presence, 120 University chapters engage over 3,000 students annually.

GB’s holistic vision of development currently operates medical, dental, public health, water, business, microfinance, environmental, architecture, and law brigades.  The organization began its work in Honduras, where the organization still operates, and has since expanded to working in Panama and most recently to Ghana in 2009.  To date, their work has impacted the lives of over 300,000 people, by giving communities access to medical care, training in good business and finance practices, and building clean water systems, public health, sanitation facilities, and schools.


2009-2010 Church Year


November 2009:  Housing Corporation of Arlington

Starting in 2000, the Housing Corporation of Arlington (HCA) partnered with the Town of Arlington to create Arlington’s Homelessness Prevention Fund.  Entirely financed through private donations, this fund provides one-time grants to Arlington residents experiencing an emergency housing crisis that could lead to homelessness.  The Fund helps families and individuals who are in danger of becoming homeless with grants of up to $2,500.  HPF grants help pay back rent, moving expenses and security deposits.  Assistance is given in cases where the grant will help stabilize a family's housing for at least six months.  A household may receive a grant no more than twice, and the second grant will only be made two years or more after the first.  Currently, more than 280 families have received assistance, totaling over $330,000 in grants.

The Housing Corporation continues to be a strong advocate for affordable housing, and through its efforts, helped to adopt Arlington's Inclusionary Zoning Bylaw, which guarantees future real estate developments in Town set aside at least 15% of housing units as affordable.  HCA raises the issue of affordable housing in Arlington through annual meeting events, which most recently featured former Governor Michael Dukakis and our annual Walk for Affordable Housing.

The generosity of First Parish members and friends' offerings during November worship services resulted in a check for $1,196 being sent to the Housing Corporation of Arlington's Homelessness Prevention Fund.


December 2009:  Friends of Gateway

The organization chosen by the Social Justice Committee to receive a Giving First donation from our December collection plates was Friends of Gateway.  A budget motel located on Route 2 near the Alewife T station was serving as a temporary homeless shelter, since the state’s 2,000 homeless shelter beds were full.  Homeless families lived there for months while they waited for a space in the shelter system or for more permanent housing, which sometimes takes over a year to obtain.  The motel was housing 45 families, 69 children, and 8 expectant mothers.  Friends of Gateway was a group of Arlington-based volunteers that worked with the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance and the Somerville Homeless Coalition to coordinate support and run donation drives for residents of the Gateway shelter to provide basic necessities such as microwaveable food, clothing, shoes, baby items, toys, toiletries, bus passes, etc.  Our Weekly Announcements typically included a list of Current Needs at the Shelter.

In December First Parish sent a check for $698.74 to Friends of Gateway to assist the homeless families who were temporarily living at our nearby shelter.


January 2010:  Arlington Assistance Program

The First Parish Giving First recipient for January 2010 was the Arlington Assistance Program which helps low-income families pay their heating bills.  The intent of the program is to prevent low-income people from having to choose between heating their homes and buying food or other things they need.

A Federal program can provide funding which is distributed by the state.  However, some Arlington residents are not eligible for those funds.  In an emergency, such as receipt of a shut off notice, endangerment of health, lack of heat in a cold weather month, or other extraordinary circumstances, the Arlington Assistance Fund can fill the gap.  One time each year, the Assistance Fund can pay $200 to the fuel vendor.  The Fund is administered by a town employee and is supported by donations.  In the January chill, we contributed to help our neighbors stay warm.


February 2010:  What If Foundation in Haiti

In the event of a crisis, the Social Justice Committee is now prepared to respond through the First Parish Giving First Program.  Due to the earthquake devastation in Haiti and First Parish's desire to send aid, the recipient for February was the What If Foundation in Haiti.  Their mission is to feed and educate impoverished children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  With the collaboration of members of St. Clare's church and community, thousands of food program meals are prepared and served every week. 

Because there are so few public schools in Haiti, most children are unable to receive a free education.  The What If Foundation provides scholarships to pay for tuition, uniforms, and books for elementary and high school.  The foundation also gives scholarships to 18 students who are attending college or technical school in Port-au-Prince.  What-If also funds an annual summer camp and is starting an after-school program.  Classes that will be offered include computer instruction, sewing, cooking, tutoring, test prep, and the development of a new community garden. 

In 2008, over 92% of donations went directly to fund programs in Haiti.  Current news reports and more information are available on their website:  whatiffoundation.org


March 2010:  Arlington Food Pantry

The First Parish Giving First recipient for March 2010 was the Arlington Food Pantry, which has provided food and necessities to low-income families since 1990.  Funds are overseen by Arlington’s Department of Human Services; however, all the work at the Pantry is done by volunteers in space provided by the Church of Our Savior on Marathon St.  The Pantry provides food to over 340 residents in over 150 Arlington families and is seeing an average of 8 new residents per month.  Costs are increasing and donations are not able to keep up.

Many organizations, including our congregation, send volunteers and donations of non-perishable food to the Pantry.  Cash donations are used to purchase other needs such as toothbrushes, soap, toilet paper, special dietary needs and perishable foods, and to pay a small rental fee to Church of Our Savior.  We all know that visits to the grocery store are more and more expensive.  As the number of people needing help increases, please consider expanding our support of the Pantry through Giving First.


June-July 2010:  The Sabre Foundation

(The Social Justice Committee chose to combine the months of June and July since many people go away for the summer.  The months of August and September were also combined.)

The Giving First Recipient for June-July 2010 was the Sabre Foundation.  Since 1986 Sabre has shipped close to $250 million worth of new books and other educational materials to more than 80 countries.  There are four key tenets to Sabre’s book donation philosophy:

  1. Partners appreciate Sabre’s steadfast adherence to the policy that, when it comes to the educational needs of developing and transitional countries, indigenous organizations know best.
  2. When it comes to Sabre’s choosing which books to accept as donations from publishers, Sabre’s rule-of-thumb is that something which is of no value in the U.S. is usually equally valueless overseas.
  3. Sabre’s book program is demand driven.  Partners select books and CD-ROMs from detailed inventory lists.  Only title and quantities specifically requested are shipped by Sabre.
  4. Sabre is committed to promoting and encouraging indigenous publishing.

Over 200 publishers have participated in the Book Donation Program, with thousands of titles offered.  Within each country the book programs are managed by local NGO partners with links to libraries, schools, universities and medical and research institutions.  Sabre works closely with its network of indigenous partner organizations in identifying and helping to meet the educational needs of developing and transitional countries.

Lists of available inventory are sent to the partner organizations, and they are able to choose exact titles and numbers of copies needed.  Most of the books are new college and professional level titles.  High school, elementary and pre-school materials are also held in inventory.  The books are in English, invariably the second language of choice in countries where English is not already an official language.

For each $100 donated to Sabre, Sabre can ship up to $3,000 worth of NEW books.  This figure includes pro-rated:  book procurement, shipment preparation and freight costs.

Each 20-foot container-load shipped has a fair market value of between $250,000 to $750,000 (sometimes more), depending on the kind of books; a 40-foot container holds approximately 12,000 to 16,000 books.

Because Sabre ships titles in multiple copies, each and every student can have a text.

For more information about Sabre:  sabre.org.

For information about joining MIT student volunteers at the warehouse: mit.edu/mitaspire.

 

 

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