Unitarian Universalist Church of Cambria

Social and Environmental Justice highlights From 2022

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The Social and Environmental Justice Committee is 10 members strong.

 

Janet Cooper,  Wayne Attoe, Robert Wilkinson, Rebecca Hendricks, Kathy Persinger, Lou Pitelka, Judy Butler, Mary Schwalbe ,Diane DeMarco and Catherine Lekich, all welcome you to join us in our pursuit of social and environmental justice for Cambria and the greater area.

 

Here is a report of our doings for the year 2022

 

Aside from helping at times and  along with members of the congregation, we assist in Environmental Justice projects like Greenspace’s planting of trees, or Coastal Cleanup Days, Squibbing Day, and of course the Highway 46 cleanup once a month headed up by Rebecca and Ted.   

Sue Davis has taken the lead for the cleanup of a section on Highway 1.

We are hoping to keep you better informed of  community environmental justice projects as they happen throughout the year

 

This year we gave $150 to ‘Stuff the Bus” a yearly collection taken to provide school supplies to the kids in the community

 

To date we have received 60 no cook bags from the SLO Food Bank to disperse as needed to people on the coast who are unhoused. 

We are able to do this because we are a nonprofit.

One bag is meant to meet the nutritional needs of one person for one day.

 

We used $200 to make up toiletry bags for the unhoused and dispersed them as we could.

We continued to collect warm clothing during the year to distribute to the unhoused. 

 

Members of the SEJC along with members of the congregation continue to help Janet  Cooper with the monthly SLO Food Bank in San Simeon. 

A wonderful part of this effort is that Janet meets with a volunteer at the Cookie Crock before to purchase and augment the food bank with staples that the people there can really use like eggs, tortillas, tomatoes, peppers and milk and cheese.  

The extra money needed for this comes from Cambria Anonymous Neighbors and funds are used from the SEJC budget to give $25 gift certificates for the Cookie Crock to those who show up after the augmented food is gone.

We spent the last of our yearly monetary allotment to add pies in December to this food project .

 

In November, our yearly food drive that we do with Danilda Reyes and Link Family Resource Center,  is always a big success thanks to congregation members and this year the larger community. We filled  40 baskets this year with a turkey and everything a family could use to have a well deserved gathering and feast.

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The Scholarship Committee,  headed up by Jan Musurra  and founded by Bobra Tahan has been in operation for ten years.They have awarded tens of thousands of dollars from donations to deserving students.

This year 10 students were honored. 

 

I would like to mention that Tom Harris a UUCC congregant and a board member for the Cambria Connection gave Danilda, 80 $50 Albertsons gift cards to be dispersed to families in the area as needed.

 

The Womens Auxillary at the American Legion offers us volunteer opportunities during the holidays. 

Helping to fill goody bags in December for the veterans and people in the community that can’t leave their homes, and the Toys for Tots program are 2 projects that we as a committee and congregation help with.

 

We are always available to assist anyone that wants to head up a SEJ project that they feel passionate about.