Social Action Committee

Important Dates: 

• Sunday, April 13, 12:30-1:30: SAC meeting  
  
• Sunday, April 27: Social Action Sunday, SAC program   
  
• Sunday, May 18, 9:30-10:30: SAC meeting  
  
• Sunday, June 8, 12:30-1:30: SAC meeting  
           
  

Social Action Sunday is April 27, 2008 – 9:00 & 11:00 services:

• Social Action Sunday 2008 flyer
  
• Our guest speaker will be David Diamond, addressing the topic: How to be an Ally for Questioning, Gay, Lesbian or Transgender Youth.  This is in support of SAC efforts to bring support activities to our area for GLBT youth and their families, and to uphold our recognition as a Welcoming Congregation.
  
• Our speaker, David Diamond, is a Special Education Supervisor for the Lakeland Central School District and the advisor for the Lakeland and Walter Panas High School Gay-Straight Alliances, as well as the technical director for the theater program.  He is also the co-chair of the Hudson Valley chapter of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national education organization working to ensure safe schools for ALL students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.  Further, he is a volunteer at Center Lane, Westchester’s only community center for LGBTQ youth and their allies.
  
• We will also enjoy special music from local folk musician and social activist, Fred Gillen, Jr.  
  

 
Our DRAFT Mission Statement:
The Social Action Committee is committed to developing opportunities for our Fellowship to live out our Unitarian Universalist principles in the broader community by:  
            Increasing awareness and sensitivity to social justice issues; and  
Promoting personal responsibility to become the change we want to see in the world.  
 We strive to do these things in a way that is mindful and respectful of our diverse Fellowship community.   
 

Our Social Policy: 
 
 
Ongoing Direct Action Projects:
 
·      Food Program: The fellowship participates with other congregations in the area to provide a hot meal for the Lunch Program served at the Salvation Army Community Center in Peekskill. We take responsibility for the third Tuesday of each month and ask our Fellowship committees and community circle groups to each take a turn to cook and deliver a meal. This program serves approximately 60 – 80 people at each meal. The contact for this project is Susan Peters (zsuzsapet@optonline.net).
·      Second Collections:  Each month SAC coordinates a second collection to benefit a nonprofit organization.  The contact for this project is Bearni Croft (bcroft429@optonline.net).
·      Adopt-A-Highway:  The contact for this program is Teri Lukin (teriandollie@aol.com).
·      Holiday Gift Program:  The contact for this project is Bearni Croft (bcroft429@optonline.net).
·      Michael Schwartz is collecting books and magazines for the female inmates at Bedford Hills Correctional. Please remove name and address labels. Drop them off at the fellowship in cardboard boxes. 
·      Please support the Cortlandt-Croton Food Bank with a weekly donation. This month is a warming food theme: stews, chili, hearty soups, mac and cheese - as well as the staples- tuna, veggies, pasta, sauce.
 

 

Youth Action Projects: 
 
 

 

 

Past Direct Action Projects:
1.      On March 27, 2008 we held a community dialogue about safe neighborhoods and strong communities.  This was in response to concerns over the abduction of a woman from our local grocery store and subsequent sexual assault.  We invited residents and businesspersons from our surrounding community.  Over 70 attended the event.  Our speakers included:
·      Supervisor Linda Puglisi, Cortlandt Town Board
·      Sergeant James Kranik, Station Commander, New York State Police - Cortlandt Barracks
·      Investigator Steve Listner, New York State Police - Cortlandt Barracks
·      Detective Sergeant John Nikitopoulos, Croton Police
·      Sergeant Scott Sullivan, Westchester County Police, Department of Public Safety
·      Detective Simone Guiseppi, Westchester County Police, Department of Public Safety
·      Mr. Patel, Owner of the Watergate Motel 
·      Ms. Tina Volz Bongar, Westside Peekskill Neighborhood Association
·      Lieutenant Catherine Johansen, Peekskill Police Department
 

Also in attendance were:
·      Reverend Jim Covington of our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 
·      the Mayor of Croton, Gregory Schmidt
·      Councilman Frank Farrell, Cortlandt Town Board
·      Councilman John Sloan, Cortlandt Town Board
·      Ed Vergano, Director of Technical Services for the Town of Cortlandt
·      James Flandreau, Deputy Director of Code Enforcement for the Town of Cortlandt
·      Joe, the Manager of our A&P, along with their District Manager and Vice President (The A&P also donated cookies for the event.  Thank you!)
 

Ongoing activities include discussion of the formation of a neighborhood watch program.  You can read a summary of the event in the following document:  Dialogue Summary  The contact person for this program is Tracy Breneman-Pennas (brenemanpennas@gmail.com). 
 

 

     2.  The Middle East Education Initiative.  The contact person for this program
is Lucinda Manning (manning_lucinda@yahoo.com).
 
 

Meeting Minutes:
·      March 16, 2008 Minutes 
·      March 9, 2008 Minutes 
·      February 10, 2008 Minutes 
·      January 20, 2008 Minutes
 
 

Contacts: 
·      Committee Chair: Tracy Breneman-Pennas  brenemanpennas@gmail.com
·      Liaison to the Board of Trustees: Bearni Croft  bcroft429@optonline.net
·      Youth Representative: Meghan Morkal-Williams  (if you would like to contact Meghan, please e-mail Tracy)
·      A Listserv has been created for the Social Action Committee to facilitate regular communication between interested parties. Please contact the administrator if you are interested in joining.