Our North Chapel Social Justice Committee has had a series of films, discussions, and other events related to social justice issues for the North Chapel and wider community. Our goal is to support one another as we raise our awareness and deepen our understanding of the complex and compelling issues of our times, in the hope that both together and separately, we can take effective and meaningful action.

To join us contact Joelle Seavey at joelle.seavey@gmail.com .

Bill McKibben on Climate Change

Is there anything you can do about it? The answer is yes!

For those who did not get the opportunity to attend Bill McKibben's talk at North Chapel on Sunday, March 17th, you can see it here!

Bill gives us effective things that we can DO to slow the onslaught of climate chaos.

Please watch the half-hour talk, even if you would rather not! And finally, please send the link to your family, friends, acquaintances and to your social media.

Find it here: youtube.com/watch?v=l2NvNnMsgXk

Thank you!

Anne Macksoud

From Joelle Seavey - Social Justice Committee Chair

Social Justice Notices

SPREADING THE WORD

On Sunday, March 3rd , North Chapel's Justice Committee sponsored a screening of the 56 minute film SEEING THROUGH THE WALL: Meeting Ourselves in Israel and Palestine. About 25 people attended the screening. Rabbi Dov Taylor introduced the film and he (and Anne Macksoud)  moderated a discussion after the film.

During the discussion, several people asked that we send a link to the film to the entire North Chapel Congregation. They felt that one thing we could actually DO about the ongoing situation in Gaza 

would be to spread the  message of the film.

The North Chapel Justice Committee invites you to view the film yourself and then invite your family and friends to watch it. We believe it is essential that people understand the REASONS for the conflict that is going on in Gaza and the West Bank. If more and more citizens understand why this is happening,they will let their government know that it must STOP.

THANK YOU

Here's the link: https://vimeo.com/392241829 and here's a link to some information about the film

https://www.olddogdocumentaries.org/product/seeing-through-the-wall/

Looking for landowners or building owners that want to do community solar!

We are in the beginning stages of providing the Woodstock area (Pomfret, Woodstock, West Woodstock, South Woodstock and Bridgewater) with more renewable energy.                                                 

In order to do that, Sustainable Woodstock is looking for landowners or building owners that are interested in hosting a community solar project. You could be compensated for this effort in dollars or credit off of your electric bill. 

We are intending to build a community solar project using ground-mounted solar panels, or panels installed on a large roof. To get the process started we’re looking for the following:

1) Landowners in the Woodstock, Barnard, Bridgewater or Pomfret area with 1.5-4+ acres of cleared land 

Bonus points if you’re on any of the following routes: 

Rt 12 btw Woodstock and Barnard General Sstore

Route 4 btw Worthy Kitchen and 100A in Plymouth

Anywhere on Shurtleff Lane

Church Hill Road till Blankey Cottage

Rt. 106 till till the South Woodstock general store

2) Landowners / Businesses with a large federal tax burden you would be interested in relieving

3) Landowners / Business Owners with a large electric bill

4) Building owners with 3,500 sq ft or more of roof space. (Bonus if you have a standing seam roof)

5) Folks that want to help the environment and help others that want to go solar but cannot 

If you qualify for any of the above, please reach out to Ben Kogan at 305-495-9962 or ben@reusablesolutions.com. You can also schedule a meeting here: www.calendly.com/reusablesolutions

Vermonters Together - Building A Better Future

In an increasingly divided world, there is a need for Vermonters to come together across issues, for the people and the planet, calling on our decision-makers to work with us for a better future. We will rally in the streets of Montpelier to call on the Vermont legislature and the Governor to prioritize the needs of the people and our collective future. Together we will stretch beyond what is comfortable and embrace the imagination, courage and boldness required of all of us at this time.

The Radical Flower - Outgrowing Our Social Division

Here is Leon's TEDx Talk on YouTube!

"The Radical Flower - Outgrowing Our Social Division"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkieN3oZJ-8

From YouTube:

Talking about joy and racial justice at the same time is almost impossible. It’s very hard work but it can be done. Our conversations about race and racism become so volatile because they are not yet as beautiful as they need to be. Our conversations do not yet enable us. Flower gets us closer. Through disciplined, graphic analysis of the of the stories that we hear (and the stories that we tell), Flower helps us to better understand this persistent, American challenge… and helps us to overcome it.

For the inaugural year of TEDxHartlandHill in Woodstock, VT, we compiled an amazing group of speakers to dive into the question, "What is Community?" Each speaker taking on all aspects of being our best, kind and open, to create a truly healthy environment.

Rev. Dr. Leon Dunkley leads us through an exercise towards more compassion using an innovative approach that is a wonder to see. The Rev. Dr. Leon Dunkley ministers to the North Universalist Chapel Society in Woodstock, VT. He is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist. The church of his childhood was the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Monmouth County in Lincroft, New Jersey. From this church (and from its minister, Reverend Harold Dean), Leon learned about the sweetness of life. He learned about compassion, peace, and possibility.

Leon received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University and his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh. He studied the traditional drumming of Ghana and the Republic of Zaire, the Kora tradition of Senegal, the Gamelan traditions of Java and Bali in Indonesia, the African American Blues and Jazz tradition(s) throughout the Americas. Most recently, he has taken an interest in Bluegrass and Country Blues.

The joy of life is the best within us becoming possible. So then, how do we best foster the joy of life? A poet writes,

Reaching to the past, we find ourselves less distantly,

trying to remember our tale

Asking of tomorrow just the simple gift of peace,

oceans over ourselves

And, here, to give oneself upon an altar high,

trying to remember our tale

To see and hear within the stillness, to touch and taste the sky,

trying to remember our tale

As if the golden light was in our hands,

As if Silence had whispered my name…

Beholden and here I am

Silent and singing away

How do we commit ourselves to our highest hopes and aspirations? How do we challenge the barriers, the impediments that hold us back?

Leon is currently writing a book entitled The Flower of Impossible Soul. It explores the meaning of spiritual growth and radical forgiveness in the presence of violence and racial strife. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Actions you can take today:

Please send any petitions or other news to be posted here to office@northchapelvt.org.

From Helen Hong of COVER:

Upper Valley Strong is a local resource that is helping to bring volunteers and financial contributions together. https://uvstrong.org/ This is a resource in addition to Sustainable Woodstock and the Hub, both of which are providing essential services to residents of Woodstock and nearby areas. 

For anyone interested in learning more about COVER and our upcoming volunteer projects, our website is https://coverhomerepair.org/.

From Liz Cassell:

“These are the scholars I am assisting at Dartmouth.”

Article from Dartmouth News :

Scholars From Ukraine Find Refuge at Dartmouth - Despite the war, ‘the Ukrainian muses are not silent.’

Read it here: https://bit.ly/3SkzYpt

~ From Karen Ganey

Click HERE for the link to some wonderful resources and actionable items to support justice for Black communities.

Help Change the World Kids to GROW SOME TO FEED MANY!

Are you a gardener or farmer with a few extra carrots, beets, potatoes or other root cellar storage vegetables that you’d be willing to donate, so we can deliver locally grown vegetables to local Food Shelves and families throughout the cold months? Please help us to fill all of our root cellar bins and shelves! No amount is too small or too big.

Which veggies? Carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, leeks, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, apples, and pears for the root cellar, and winter squash, garlic, and dried shell beans for our dry, cold storage area.

If you have questions, or if you want to schedule a drop-off time at our root cellar behind the Woodstock Elementary School or a pick-up time at your farm or home, please contact us: changetheworldkids@gmail.com.

Reduce hunger. Promote health. Build community. Thank you!

Change the World Kids

www.changetheworldkids.org

“No one can do everything, but everybody can do something.”

Other Ways North Chapel Community Can Help Support Change the World Kids

• We are in need of clean grass clippings for mulch for our Food Justice Gardens.

• You can donate herb plants for our new “cook with fresh herbs garden”

• Get involved with the town energy plan and advocate for Net Zero infrastructure for all future improvements

• Donate wood to our Free Firewood project

• Make a financial contribution. Truly, we can’t do this work without the support from the community

If you are interested in helping with any of this, please reach out by emailing us at changetheworldkids@gmail.com. It may take a couple days for us to respond by email so if you need a faster turn around, please call. Thank you!

Sustainable Woodstock and the Widow Dressers Project Volunteers in the Social Hall -

photos by Jenevra Wetmore

Thanks to all involved, we built 235 window inserts for 26 families

-we have over 80 volunteers join us to help

-Window Dressers estimates that on average, 10 inserts will save 105 gallons of heating fuel — which at around $5.50/gallon, amounts to more than $550 in savings per year. That means we're saving ~2,467 gallons of fuel, or $13,571.

~ From Anne Marinello:

Anne’s brother, Clay Haswell, had been volunteering in Madrid, Spain helping World Central Kitchen organize and provide meals for the refuges from Ukraine. Here are a few of the photos and a letter he sent .

“It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.”

~ Padraig O’Tuama

From Clay Haswell in Madrid’s World Central Kitchen:

With Rob Burke, an attorney from NJ and the only other American here, and Maria, a Madrilena whose last name I don't know but who taught me the fast way to remove the plastic packaging around juice boxes before putting them in meal bags so they can be distributed individually. We did 7 pallets of juice boxes today

The number of Ukrainian refugees in Spain has grown to 29,000. We are preparing hot meals for distribution to four refugee camps and a hospital that is treating those arriving at the border with medical problems. We made a lot of meals today but nowhere near that number and I have no idea how the math works. The Spanish government was among the first to respond to the EU's request for assistance and is providing free health services, schooling and work permits.  

For those of you who didn't know ... Clay is in Madrid working with World Central Kitchen making food for Ukrainian refugees who are spilling into Spain, which is one of the most welcoming nations. I'm going to join him on Saturday. As you can see, he's having a delightful time. ❤️❤️  (from Sarah, his wife)

CH:  The meals look pretty good, don't you think? Also in the bag 2 mandarins, banana, 2 juice boxes and a pack of those weird Spanish cookie cakes. Not sure you have much appetite if everything you know has just been blown up.

This girl just arrived at the refugee camp in Madrid. She is from Mariupol. My colleague Rob Burke's daughter filled a backpack with Beanie Babies to give to Ukrainian kids. We went out to the truck distributing the food we'll be spending tomorrow on the truck handing out food. The refugees are being put up not in a tent city but in the Madrid Convention Center. 

The classroom areas have been turned into processing centers where they can register with Spain, get free meals and, if they have nowhere to stay, can get a room in the convention center hotel for three days. Worth noting that the Spanish government is granting permission to stay even with no documents for a year; providing work permits, getting free medical care, and admission to public school. I hope we can be anywhere near as generous.

I'll be spending tomorrow on the truck handing out food.

These sisters came in on a late flight from Kjiv tonight and I was pouring coffee in the food truck on the graveyard shift. We stayed up to provide a hot meal when they arrived. A woman named Beatriz was working the truck with me and her daughters had put together a bag of gifts. The girl in purple was ecstatic when her little sister got a doll, but when sh/e was handed one she got teary and kept repeating in English, in "For me? For me? For me?"

World Central Kitchens is the organization. They are incredible. You can find them online. They have kitchens feeding Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Moldova, Madrid, Romania and Hungary. Here is the kitchen in Madrid. Beef stew cooking for tomorrow's lunch.  

To learn more or donate to World Central Kitchen, click here: https://wck.org/