Social Justice

CROP Walk
Elgin Interfaith Food Pantry
Equal Exchange Coffee Program
The Green Sanctuary
The Larkin Center
UUCE Peace & Justice Coalition
Recycling Used Printer Cartridges
Village Banking at UUCE
Women Cooking for Women

CROP Walk
A community-based fund raising event to raise money for local hunger-fighting agencies as well as the international relief and development efforts of Church World Service. CROP Walks help children and families worldwide to have food for today, while building for a better tomorrow. The Elgin CROP Walk happens each year in October.
Contact: Bob Jackson

Elgin Interfaith Food Pantry
Each month we collect donations of food and other necessities for the Elgin All People’s Interfaith Pantry. This is an emergency pantry for those in temporary need. Desired items include non-perishable foods, toiletries & baby needs.
Contact: Henny Dubois.

Equal Exchange Coffee Program
At UUCE, we sell Equal Exchange brand coffees, teas, cocoa and chocolate, which are:

• 100% Fair Trade
  Using internationally recognized fair trade standards, Equal Exchange seeks to balance the inequities found in the conventional coffee trade. Coffee is a leading source of income for the Developing World. Through fair trade, it can be a delicious and powerful tool to bring about positive change for small farmers and their families.
  
  
• Certified Organic
  Organic farming recognizes the critical role of the farmer in managing soil, plants, animals and other elements in a sustainable agricultural system which avoids the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.
  
  
• Shade Grown
  A typical shade grown farm is made up of coffee trees grown alongside other food crops under a canopy of taller trees. These taller trees provide fruit, wood and other valuable products to the farmer while offering protection and nutrients to the coffee plants and preventing erosion of the soil.

Contact Mary Alice Masonick.

The Green Sanctuary
The Green Sanctuary Committee assists the church in being more environmentally friendly and coordinates some of the congregations concern for environmental issues. Ongoing projects include:

• Education via monthly Green Corner articles in the church newsletter
• The Wind Energy Project
• Sales of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
• Battery recycling
• 1-2-3 Pledge for reducing energy consumption

Contact: Elizabeth Olson, Committee Chair.

The Larkin Center
The Larkin Center, established in 1896, is a social service agency whose mission is to nurture and challenge individuals with special behavioral and emotional needs, so that they may free themselves for participation in family and society.

We support the Larkin Center through various projects sponsoring one of their group homes (“The Creekside Home”). Approximately ten girls, aged 10-17 live at the Creekside Home at a given time.

At Christmas, we sponsor a Giving Tree to fulfill the wishes of the residents (for themselves and the home). Throughout the year, we sponsor activities for the girls, including parties and education, cultural, and social outings.
Contact: Roberta Nauman.

UUCE Peace & Justice Coalition
The purpose of this group is to participate in peacemaking activities, including things such as offering forums to discuss the Unitarian Universalist Association's Study/Action Issue on Peacemaking, advocating for peacemaking initiatives, participating in nonviolent actions to promote peace, networking with other peace groups, including other UU peace groups. This aligns with our Programming Mission in that it is inclusive of all members and friends, reaches out to the larger community and is clearly in line with all of our UU Principles, but Particularly the Sixth Principle, " The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all".
Contacts: Andrea Schmidlin, Mary Alice Masonick.

Recycling Used Printer Cartridges
Bring your used ink jet cartridges to church and deposit them in the marked container. They will be recycled and the church will receive a small amount of money for each cartridge turned in.
Contact: Henny DuBois.

Village Banking at UUCE
The Village Banking program at UUCE began in 2007 with the sponsorship of a Village Bank in Haiti.  We participate in the micro-finance village banking campaign of FINCA International which provides financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs, so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.  With more than 20 years' experience and over 500,000 clients on four continents, FINCA offers a proven solution to poverty.  The Village Banking program is an ongoing endeavor of this community.
Contact: Kathy Hislip.

Women Cooking for Women
On the first Friday of each month (except July and December), women gather to cook, converse, cajole and donate to a cause or project that supports women. We rotate between global and local causes in order to educate ourselves to the plight and concerns of women everywhere.
Contacts: Laurie Kiesewetter, Andrea Schmidlin, Kathy Hislip.

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