Greater Good Project 2006
In 2006 Members and Friends at First Unitarian Church were encouraged to give half of their Christmas spending to two projects benefiting the greater good. One local and one international project were selected by children in the Religious Education program (267 children) from a list of 10 candidates.
As one child in the Religious Education program commented, "This project is about the church expressing how lucky we are to have so much that we can give half away and still be just fine." How inspiring that a child sees how blessed we are. Unitarian Universalism is a denomination based on deeds not creeds and the congregation sees this project as a way to put our faith in action during the holiday season.
During the campaign $79,000 was collected from Members, Friends, and members of the larger community who chose to participate. The two projects the children selected are described below.
Local Project:
Families & Friends Of Murdered Children
Rochester mom Audrey Smith started this organization years
ago when her son was tragically murdered in Rochester. Currently
they provide financial support, funeral planning advice, court
advocacy and grief support to families who have been victims
of violence. We are helping them strengthen their programming
and build an interfaith coalition that addresses gun violence
in the city's hot spots. Using proven programs from other parts
of the country as a model, the group seeks to develop a program
based on radical forgiveness whereby the families of victims
become advocates and educators of the community. The group
has the public support of the Mayor and the District Attorney
is a board member. Rochester currently has the 2nd highest
homicide rate per capita in NY State.
More information: Families & Friends.
International
Project: University Of Rochester Family Medicine Department
The
Department of Family Medicine of the University of Rochester
works with a rural Honduran village (San Jose San Marcos) offering
curative care while using a global health holistic approach.
Women and children walk daily in this village for 1-2 hours
to gather water which is often contaminated. Our
funding will help villagers install slow sand filters,
build Ferro cement water tanks and continue constructing water
pipes. We are excited about an ongoing partnership as future
initiatives unfold. Workcamps engaging our hearts and hands
are planned for future involvements. Honduras is the second
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
More information: Honduras Village Project
December 12 2010