Economic Equity

During these times of physical distancing, the people of UUFM continue to use our resources for the good of the larger community.

Current Actions

  • Donated from our Hospitality Fund and Our Minister’s Emergency Fund to assist local agencies serving those most vulnerable in our greater community. In June 2020, the Fellowship donated $500 each to ECHO Food Shelf  (available to people experiencing food insecurity), the Connections Ministry (assisting people living with housing insecurity), and CADA—Committee Against Domestic Abuse (providing safety and shelter to people physically and sexually abused).
  • Amplifying the efforts of Black leaders in Greater Mankato in the formation of a chapter of the NAACP. Find out more about the organizing efforts of Black leaders in our community on FaceBook.
  • Practicing sustainable gardening and making available organic produce through the vegetable garden on the grounds of UUFM (maintained by Linda Ganske and Becky Rossow) and a garden plot for our youngest members at the Living Earth Center Community Garden maintained by Children’s Faith Development Director Macey Forsyth. All produce from these gardens is available to any who need it.
  • The Education and Justice Team (EdJ) donated $350 to the Living Earth Center to support its Community Garden Program. The UUFM Board authorizes EdJ to spend at its own discretion $350 as a benevolent contribution to a local non-profit making life and living good in our regional community.

Ongoing Projects

UUFM and the Connections Shelter

As most of you probably know, our congregation has been partnering with Grace Lutheran Church to provide volunteers for the guests of the Connections Shelter, providing a warm place to have an evening meal and a bed to sleep in during our winter months for those needing shelter.

We volunteered in early December with about 6 of us, and 4 of us volunteered at the end of February: Linda Ganske, Jane Schostag and Nancy and Dennis Cramblit. We have one more week coming up to help with volunteers: the week of April 13th through 20th.

We received more information about the shelter from Jenn Valimont, the shelter manager: “Because our friends do not have homes and every public place and social service is now closed we do not have any other loving choice but to keep our doors open. We are including daytime hours now. We will take this daytime schedule week by week. When the whole world has retreated into their homes those community members without homes have seriously been forgotten. We have made efforts to social distance beds. We will keep up our cleaning standards. We have always been mindful of communicable diseases in the shelter world and this pandemic is not any different. We constantly encourage and give our guests accurate info.

We are asking any volunteer under the age of 60 and healthy to please volunteer. Best practice is to always have one staff and one volunteer here at all times and we need help to keep our doors open. We have lost many volunteers due to the limits we have placed on our volunteers but we love our volunteers so much and would not want to put their health at risk while they should be social distancing at home. Please check our Facebook page for volunteering links.”

Most of us who have volunteered with Connections in the past are no longer able to help because of our age! If you and your family might be interested, please check out the Connections Shelter Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Connections-Ministry-1812332412348320/ ). The friends often enjoy puzzles, cards and other games. They might enjoy some new books/magazines/newspapers to read. Many of them enjoy a nice conversation!

We hope to continue our mission of justice work and compassion for all in this unsettled, changing time. Next church year, we will be partnering with another church again to help provide this safe, warm and welcoming space for our community friends.

 

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Second Collections

2nd Collections: 2nd Sunday of Jan., March, May, Sept., and Nov.

UUFM 2nd Collections are for social actions that will help others directly or create change through the use of our gifts.  There will be an emphasis on local needs and organizations. Our Education and Justice Team is charged with choosing the recipients of our collections.

 

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Second Connections

Every other month we have activities where we can get involved in something that benefits the community.

 

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UUFM KIVA Micro Loans

The UUFM-Micro Project is a project of the UUFM Social Action Committee (Now called the Education and Justice Committee) that began in January 2008 with the goal being to join our money together to help eradicate poverty around the world through Kiva.org loans.  Kiva.org is the first person-to-person micro-lending website.  It allows lenders to choose the entrepreneurs to whom they wish to make loans.

We use the money we collect to make loans – $25 at a time through Kiva.org.  It is our practice to re-lend funds as they are repaid. In 2008 we initially raised $6420.  That money has been loaned and re-loaned many times. Right now we are at over $100,000 lent and over 4,000 loans in 89 countries.

See here  for more information about our loans.

 

Community Garden

Do you love to garden?  Want to help provide fresh food for those in need? Our Community Garden produce is made available each Sunday after the service for a free will donation June through September.

 

UUFM Benevolence Fund

Each year money designated in our budget is distributed to a worthy cause by the Education and Justice committee.

 

Eat For Echo

Each year we have a soup and bread luncheon in March to raise money for our local food shelf: Echo Food Shelf. The luncheon is open to the public,

Money donated in March is matched so our donations go even further.