ANSWER Nepal

ANSWER Nepal

by | 10 Sep 17, 2017 | Justice Teams

Help a Nepalese student feel supported to stay in school! Our sponsors encourage bright students reach their full potential and accomplish amazing things.

The ANSWER (American-Nepali Student & Women’s Educational Relief) Ministry team is making a difference in the world. We connect East Shore members (and their friends and family members) with bright Nepali students who need help to stay in school. Sponsors offer the students financial support as well as personal support through a letter exchange, and everyone wins! ANSWER students excel, usually going on to college, and joining careers in which they contribute to Nepali society. We get connected to people and culture that enhances our own lives.

How you can transform your faith into justice:

  • Help pair students with sponsor families
  • Sponsor a Nepali student

 

Holiday Giving Tree

Holiday Giving Tree

by | 02 Sep 17, 2017 | Justice Teams

Spread some holiday cheer! Help fill requests for several local agencies to help, children, teens, young adults, and seniors with gifts to bring smile to their face and love in their hearts.

Each year, we work with several social service agencies who supply us with requests for household goods, clothes, and toys for needy families. Each request hangs as a tag on the Giving Tree. Members and friends choose tags, purchase gifts, and place them unwrapped under the tree.

How you can transform your faith into justice:

  • Next holiday season take one or more tags and buy requested gift(s)
  • Bring your gift(s) unwrapped and place under the tree
  • Be an “elf” and transport gifts from the tree to the agencies
Khasi Hills Partner Church

Khasi Hills Partner Church

by | 55 Sep 17, 2017 | Justice Teams

We love our partner church in Northeast India. Join us as well continue to build relationships with the teachers who run the school we help support and the children who attend.

Since 2007, East Shore Unitarian Church has partnered with the Friendship School and the Smit congregation in Khasi Hills of Northeast India. The roots of Unitarianism in the Khasi Hills go back to 1887.

The Khasi Hills Ministry Team supports our partnership with Unitarian churches in the Khasi Hills region of NE India. We are in active friendship with the incredible Unitarian Khasi people – we appreciate their love, caring, resourcefulness, wisdom, emotional intelligence and rich cultural heritage. We helped build an English-language primary school called the Friendship School, and we support the salaries for five teachers at the school. We have also begun a scholarship program for Khasi students – identified by a Khasi committee – whose families have the fewest resources.  Right now eight East Shore members are sponsoring eight students. We make pilgrimages to the region, where we visit with our friends, share cultural and spiritual values, and learn about the most pressing needs and aspirations of their community. We are committed to the equitable and compassionate care that each side of this friendship receives. Please join us – your participation will transform many lives, including your own!

Learn more about our partners from our 2020 events “PartnerPalooza!”

Our big fundraiser is a huge 100+ family yard sale each August with the funds helping pay the salaries for the teachers at the school. Look for Trinkets & Treasures in the upcoming events!

 

Meaningful Movies Bellevue

Meaningful Movies Bellevue

by | 53 Sep 17, 2017 | Justice Teams

Do you like films that make you think and want to act? Join us each month as we explore different areas of social justice with documentary screenings and discussion.

Meaningful Movies Bellevue uses film and discussion as an ongoing community building tool. We are part of the larger Meaningful Movies Project. All are welcome to dialogue on the issues of our day in a listening, caring environment. Meaningful Movies meets on Zoom at 7:00 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month. See our upcoming events here.

How you can transform your faith into justice:

  • Attend a movie and discussion
  • Donate to the ongoing programming
  • Learn about contemporary issues in your local and broader community

 

P-Patch

P-Patch

by | 51 Sep 17, 2017 | Justice Teams

Support food sustainability while eating locally grown produce! Our P-Patch team offers delicious veggies and fruit grown at East Shore or at home. Come plant with us or support our produce tables on Sunday mornings.

The purpose of the P-Patch team is to cultivate and protect a specific area of tillable land on the East Shore campus by using sustainable gardening methods and inspiring the congregation to grow and eat locally grown produce. The P-Patch offers produce from its church garden and from member home gardeners after Sunday services. Proceeds from this are used to support selected local and international non-profits that help end hunger and poverty through self reliance and education.

How you can transform your faith into justice:

  • Support the garden by volunteering to water or plant
  • Explore the produce tables when available
  • Learn more about sustainable gardening methods
PorchLight

PorchLight

by | 51 Sep 17, 2017 | Justice Teams

Help fight homelessness on the eastside! Join us as we house, feed, and support 30-35 homeless men in the month of October. We need volunteers all year long!

We join with other partner churches on the Eastside to provide shelter, meals, and showers for homeless men. Our small group coordinates the efforts for our commitment to this larger organization. In October, many East Shore groups combine forces as volunteers to provide prepare meals, build daily lunches, do needed shopping, plus provide toiletries and other necessary items for 15-20 single homeless men. Through donations, we underwrite the cost of a mobile dental van providing hygiene/prophylaxis, cavity repair.

 

How you can transform your faith into justice:

  • Volunteer to cook a meal, make sandwiches, or shop in October