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Volunteer Message
- We encourage CUUC members and friends to
learn about and become personally involved in social justice
outreach activities.
- We serve as a repository for information
about social justice programs outside of CUUC.
- We research areas within the broad theme of
healing injustice that might be of interest to our congregation.
- We share our research with members and
friends and listen to their responses.
- We coordinate the scheduling of charitable
appeals to the congregation.
- We provide Helpful Hints for Starting a CUUC
Social Action Project, a compilation of suggested elements to
consider when starting a new project.
- We nurture project participants through
mentoring, training, and spiritual reflection.
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April 24th, 2010 |
CUUC Members, Friends and Families
Excel at two-part JustACT Service Days
Our third annual community service day turned into two days, due
to some rainy/snowy weather. We found that caring people are pretty
flexible and so some service projects planned for April 24 were
rescheduled to the following, much sunnier, Saturday.
Projects that were under cover, and able to move
forward as planned on April 24 were the following:
InterFaith Food Collection Under the
leadership of Frances Blizard and Maureen Flanigan, teams of CUUC
volunteers, working in two-hour shifts solicited food contributions
at the King Soopers located at Pierce and Coal Mine Avenue to help
restock the Food Bank at InterFaith Community Services. By the
end of the day, the volunteers had collected and delivered a huge
load of food to the InterFaith Food Bank. CUUC Members, Friends and
family members who participated included Anna, Sam, Suzanne and Dan
Gaiser, Linnaea, MJ and George Eger, and Judy and John Kary.
Ft. Logan Elementary School At the request of
the Principal, Susan Resnick, a crew of CUUC volunteers undertook
the major project of cleaning out the basement of Ft. Logan
Elementary School. The CUUC Tutoring Team has supported the school’s
reading and other programs since 2004. The school’s basement has
been a repository for records, furniture, equipment and supplies for
the entire Sheridan School District as well as the school. Fighting
dirt and dust, the volunteers, with the guidance of the Principal,
removed hundreds of pounds of broken and obsolete materials, and
reorganized the remaining items into a logical shelving system.
Members and Friends of CUUC who participated in this project were:
Bee and John Adams, Greg and Joan Bradt, David and Sarah Manning,
Mardi Stone, Sue Zloth, and Brian Pendleton.
Projects undertaken the following Saturday, May 1,
were:
Dutch Creek Elementary School Our volunteers
returned to Dutch Creek Elementary School, the other school
supported by the CUUC Tutoring Program, for the second year of a
Spring cleanup of the school grounds, principally in and around
Dutch Creek that surrounds two sides of the school’s property. In
addition, our volunteers weeded flowerbeds in the front of the
school. Volunteers who participated are: Sally and Alan Popiel,
Penny Evans, Jamie Daniels, Bob Moser, Sue and Mike Dressel, and
Sarah Manning.
The Labyrinth Laura Scott and Deb Sattler
joined Darrell Dodge and Loraine Kreznar in the annual spruce up of
our Labyrinth.
CUUC Cleanup What a difference some dedicated
friends made in CUUC’s back garden and playground! Dennis Collins,
Eric Balsey, and Alicia and Greg Morris prepared the garden beds,
created a compost pile, and put the playground back together. It
looks great!
Thank you to all for volunteering your time and labor!
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First Wednesdays at 6:30pm |
Just ACT Planning
Meetings
We meet on the first Wednesday of every month at
6:30 to 8:00pm at church.
What are you up to? Can you fit some Just ACTion into your life?
We have opportunities for you to make a difference in someone’s life
and to influence how our kids live. Spend a few hours a month and
discover what you get back spiritually. Or, if you’re the curious or
committed to action type, come to our meeting
and discover what we’re really up to as we plan for 2010 and our
future.
Social justice programs are the reflection of Unitarian
Universalism principles put into practice. As a coordinating team,
Just ACT offers support and assistance to those who wish to learn
about, participate in, and create service, charitable, or advocacy
projects. Team members are individually involved with diverse
projects and meet regularly to share information, strategies and
experiences. Members and friends with ideas for new projects are
particularly welcomed. We‘d like to hear your ideas and passions, so
please feel free to contact sarahmanning@sprynet.com or just show up
on Wednesday!
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Green Team Web Page
Green Team 2009 is for you! |
The Green Team
Contact: The Green Team Project
(GTP) is an ongoing grassroots environmental non-profit project of
the Tides Center whose focus is to empower and motivate people to
make a difference environmentally through their own practices. The
CUUC Green Team is a group of individuals who participate in the
Green Team Project. Each new green team meets for 6 sessions and
learns ways to reduce our impact on the world in five resource
areas: water, energy, solid waste, chemicals, and transportation.
After completing the program we informally keep in touch with one
another, sharing information as we continue to learn, and supporting
each other’s ideas to help CUUC as a church lessen its impact on the
environment. Each year we hope to have a new group of church members
complete the program.
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Inter-faith Community Services "Interfaith
Community Services" Web Page |
Inter-Faith
Community Services
Contact: Frances Blizard
Inter-Faith Community Services (IFCS), offers comprehensive support
to individuals, families, and seniors in western Arapahoe County and
northern Douglas County. The organization provides assistance with
food, clothing, rent, and payment of utilities, in addition to
offering counseling services. A primary focus of IFCS is to offer a
“hand up, not a hand out”, and this assistance can enable families
to stay in their homes and become self-sufficient rather than face
eviction.CUUC gives a great deal of support to three specific
programs within IFCS: outfitting children returning to school;
buying turkeys for the food baskets given to over 500 families at
Thanksgiving; and sponsoring families at Christmas with two gifts
for every child and coupons for groceries. Contributions of
clothing, household items, and non-perishable foods are always
welcome in the wicker basket in the CUUC foyer.
If you would like to volunteer or make a donation, please contact
Frances Blizard at 303/795-8221 or
justact@columbineuuchurch.org for more information. |
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Project
Angel Heart
CUUC Involvement in Project Angel Heart
As many of you know, for some time now CUUC has been involved with
Project Angel Heart (PAH) by ‘adopting’ a delivery route that we
service each Saturday afternoon. Project Angel Heart is an
organization which provides nutritious meals to persons with AIDs,
cancer, and other life threatening illnesses. The meals PAH brings
to clients’ homes are customized so that each client gets the diet
they desperately need given the illness that they have, but often
would not have the energy or resources to prepare on their own.
We do this as one of our Just ACT programs at CUUC. Our
involvement started several years ago, on the first Columbine Acts
day. Since then, volunteers sign up on a rotating basis to service
our route on a particular Saturday. Since we have about 8
volunteers, any one person only needs to do the route every 6-8
weeks. The route we go on has approximately 6-8 stops and takes
about 1 ½ hours. This has also become a great way for our kids and
youth to become involved in a Just ACT project.
The PAH
organization also has a variety of other events including
fundraisers during the year. Some of the special events which occur
each year include Dining Out for Life, which was on April 20th,
where restaurants contribute half of their proceeds to PAH. Other
events include Art for Life which will be on August 26th, and A
Taste for Life to be held on November 4th. PAH also particulates in
other events such as Komen Race for the Cure, Colorado AIDS Walk,
and the Denver PrideFest. We are always looking for volunteers to
help us with our CUUC delivery route.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact
Project Angel Heart (303-830-0202) to sign up for a required
volunteer orientation at the PAH Headquarters near Colorado Blvd and
I-70. Orientations last about 90 minutes and are required
for all new volunteers. Volunteers who will be the drivers should
bring their driver’s license and proof of insurance to the
orientation. Please note that you must RSVP for the orientation.
Upcoming orientations are:
First Saturday of the month at 10:00 am
Second Tuesday of the month at 5:30 pm
Fourth Wednesdays of the month, 5:30 pm
Once you have been through the orientation, contact Jim Hopkins
to find out about signing for one of our CUUC Saturday delivery
days. The time required on the Saturday that you volunteer will be
approximately 2 hours, from 1-3pm.
For more information about this volunteer opportunity at CUUC or
for any questions, please contact Jim Hopkins by email at
jahpk@att.net or at 303-589-5971.
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List of Volunteers and Services

Click to join the
Unitarian-Universalist Service Committee |
Services for Hire
Contact: Sarah ManningServices for Hire is CUUC’s
fund raising program in support of the Unitarian Universalist
Service Committee (UUSC). The Unitarian Universalist Service
Committee advances human rights and social justice around the world
by partnering with those who confront unjust power structures and
mobilizing to challenge oppressive policies. UUSC is affiliated with
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA).
Services for Hire matches individuals’ needs with skilled CUUCers
who can fill those needs. CUUC members and friends offer their
services to each other for smaller fees than would normally be
charged commercially. Checks for services performed are made payable
to UUSC and become donations instead of payment to the volunteers.
Current services include tutoring, house cleaning, home repairs,
pruning, meal preparation, pet care, window washing, transportation,
and carpentry. If you have a need, please contact Les Jones or Sarah
Manning at and we will do our best to connect you with someone who
can help.
If you’d like to contribute, please consider the talents and
skills you’ve developed that you can donate as you help out a fellow
CUUCer and the UUSC. A complete list of volunteers and services can
be found at:
http://www.columbineuuchurch.org/uusc.html#Volunteer_Service_Roster.
Please contact Sarah Manning at
justact@columbineuuchurch.org to be added to our list of
wonderful volunteers! |
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One Congregation – One
Family
Contact: Eric Gustafson
Please contact Eric Gustafson at gustafsoneric@hotmail.com or
720-344-2090 for more information on this JustAct program. |
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Tutoring at Fort Logan and Dutch
Creek
Contact: Brian Pendleton
The Kids Need Us!
Tutoring Program at Fort Logan Elementary Organizing
for the 2009-2010 School Year CUUC‘s Tutoring Program is
recruiting volunteers to participate in our weekly tutoring program,
working one-on-one with elementary school students to develop
reading, arithmetic and other critical learning skills. This year
we are expanding our tutoring outreach to Dutch Creek
Elementary School in addition to our long time support of
the students at Fort Logan Elementary School. Dutch
Creek Elementary is just 4 blocks south of CUUC on S. Webster
Street. Our students tend to be in the lower academic achievement
levels. Many of them are from immigrant and single parent families.
This is our opportunity to share a gift of time with kids who don‘t
get much attention and don‘t have many positive roll models in their
lives. We do make a difference in their lives, and they in ours. As
one of our Tutors says, "I received more joy and rewards from CUUC‘s
Tutoring Program than I ever could have imagined." Teaching
experience is not required. We will provide training and coaching.
We need volunteers who can participate as regular Tutors during the
school day. Your weekly commitment would be about 1½ hours each
week. If you can‘t commit weekly, we are also looking for volunteers
who can be Substitute Tutors. Please join us!
Contact Brian Pendleton if you are interested in participating, or
if you have questions about the program, at 303-972-8544, or at
bpendleton@msn.com |
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Work Camp in Guatemala:
The Petén Project - January
2009
The exquisitely decorated Mayan ceramic plate, dating from the
classic period of 300-900 A.D. was broken in half. Nothing a little
duct tape on the back wouldn’t fix! Dory Pinkham, Janet Hamilton,
Dave Fagan, Kathie Cochran and Ann Wederspahn improvised one more
fix that would have horrified any museum curator, and continued
cleaning and arranging the long neglected exhibit cabinets in the
municipal library. Farmers finding artifacts in their fields had
donated dozens of vases, plates, bowls, whistles and stone grinding
tools to the exhibit.
Meanwhile, Bob Pinkham, Roy Pool and Gary Wederspahn were
improvising a gutter out of sheet metal scraps and pieces of wire to
keep the neighbor’s corrugated metal roof from continuing to pour
rainwater onto the library’s concrete block walls. They had just
applied a coat of sealer to the walls and didn’t want their efforts
destroyed in the next big rain.
The busy morning at the library in San Andrés, Petén, Guatemala
had begun around 8am. By noon the CUUC work camp volunteers headed
home to their families for the large meal of the day. Each couple or
single volunteer lived with a Spanish-speaking family of Mayan
ancestry in a simple home within walking distance of the library.
Pigs, chickens — sometimes ducks or turkeys — wandered through the
dirt or cement patios surrounded by various rooms or simple
structures. A trip to the toilet at night often involved a dark,
muddy path. Meals were hearty, simple, and always included freshly
baked tortillas — often right off a fire rather than stove.
Afternoons at the library were wilder than anticipated as word
spread that the visiting gringos had brought lots of fun activities
for the kids, who were still out of school on Christmas break at the
end of January. Forty-five kids on Monday grew to nearly 80 by the
end of the week. Tie dying tee shirts was the highlight, but making
stick puppets, tissue paper flowers, beaded necklaces, and
paper-framed Polaroid photos of themselves were all great fun.
Watching the sun set on beautiful Lake Petén Itza about 6 pm each
evening, the volunteers all headed back home to supper and their
mosquito-netted beds, knowing that morning would be announced only
too soon by the roosters and the neighborhood corn-grinding mill.
Some highlights:
Watching Bob’s pop-bottle rockets actually blast off, to
everyone’s delight.
Eating chocolate-dipped frozen bananas, sold for one quetzal at
the local tienda.
Seeing Gary’s face when he learned the empanada was filled with
road kill armadillo.
Watching Dave diagnose and prescribe for an older gentleman who
was relieved his pain was likely sciatica and not the diabetes he
feared.
Hearing a local school teacher ask, on getting to see through a
telescope for the first time, whether the stars were bigger than
cars.
Attending a party at Dory’s home, where the father climbed a
coconut palm and cut down fresh cocos for all of us to drink.
Visiting around a campfire in the rain, on a point overlooking
the lake the last night…knowing we’d given a little and learned a
lot during our Guatemala adventure.
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Women's Circle Project
Contact: Ruthanne CauleyCUUC Women's Circle
participates in an outreach project through an organization called
Women for Women International (WfWI) which focuses on the urgent
need for aid in many countries throughout the world for women who
are victims of war. Very often rape and victimization of women is
used as a military tactic. The women affected by this violation are
generally considered outcasts by their neighbors and families, often
deserted by their spouses and left with their children in poverty
and despair.
WfWI has set up a program of support, education and re-socialization
of women in several of these war torn countries. (You can visit
their website at
www.womenforwomen.org ) Their programs are changing the lives of
women and children each day. WfWI provides rights awareness and
leadership education along with the vocational and technical skills
training needed to provide a better standard of living for each
woman and her family. The sponsorship is nominal for the sponsors
but invaluable for those who benefit from it.
Our Women's Circle has sponsored women from the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Hopefully our financial support and personal
letters to our sisters in the DRC will show they are indeed valued
and help on their way to independence and security.
What a good way to enlarge our circle. For more information,
please contact Ruthanne Cauley at 303.979.7753 or
justact@columbineuuchurch.org . |
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