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Greater Good Project

What is the Greater Good Project?
It's an all-church community endeavor, to bring meaning back to the holidays and tap into the strength and power of the spirit of the season. Each of us is asked to tally what we spend on the holiday season from: presents, wrappings, trimmings, travel, food and entertainment. Then take that number and cut it in half, and contribute that to a project at the church - a gift to the Greater Good. In 2006 we collected $79,000, in 2007 $72,500, and in 2008 $62,500 from members and friends of the church and members of the larger community. These contributions remind us of needs greater than our own and sure made "living simply so others can simply live" worth the effort and small sacrifice! You can view information on the projects funded for 2006 and 2007 using the menu at right.

This holiday season, we encourage you to live simply so that others may simply live. Checks may be sent to the church office and should be made payable to the First Unitarian Church, with "Greater Good" on the memo line. If you wish to honor someone by making a Greater Good contribution in their name, please use the form available through the link at upper right; you'll also find a link to a printable card you can use to inform them of your gift.

2009 Greater Good Recipients

Watch the 2009 Greater Good video

Farmworker Legal Services of New York
This not-for-profit organization provides free legal services to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. Most of these workers are Spanish speaking and come from Central and South America. FLSNY helps victims of human trafficking--farm workers who may have been recruited through deception, fraud, the abuse of power, or outright abduction. These workers are basically enslaved. Migrant and seasonal farm workers are especially vulnerable because many are undocumented, live in isolation, are not assimilated into the communities they live in or near and seldom have access to community services. Many are unaccompanied minors with little or no formal education. It can take many months of outreach visits to gain the trust of human trafficking victims. FLSNY staff help victims talk to immigration officials and law enforcement so they can stay in this country and help prosecute the people who enslaved them. For every $10,000 FLSNY receives from the Greater Good Project, outreach staff can visit about 25 farms, talk to about 200 farm workers about their rights, and restore about $10,000 in earned wages to farm workers.

Highland Family Medicine Global Health Initiative
With this year's funding, the Honduras Project will return to the focus on public health via improved water supply by continuing work for water delivery that was supported in the first year of the Greater Good Project. Two of the five communities the Honduras Project works with have not received any piped water, cisterns or latrines as has occurred in the other three communities. With new monies, the project will be able to plan, design and develop new water projects for these communities, Guanacaste and Los Potreros, which together have approximately 90 occupied houses. The process with these projects will involve a commitment from community members to donating communal labor, so planning will involve enlisting the communities' commitment to do this work.

Exploring the Relationship Between Meaning and Money: Resources

December 14 2009