Social Justice

Our Committee's Work:  When we hear the words “social justice”, we usually think of providing a service to or support for people suffering from an injustice or misfortune. However, the UUA’s department of Social Justice expands this definition to include three additional elements of social justice work: education, witness, and advocacy. Described below are six social justice service projects administered under the umbrella of the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach.

Green Sanctuary:  At the April 4, 2006, meeting of the UUFVB Board, the committee received unanimous support for embarking upon the Green Sanctuary program! The program will lead to the certification of our Fellowship by UUA affiliate, UU Ministry for Earth.  A Task Force with a broad representation from many Fellowship committees was assembled.  The next step was to conduct an audit of Fellowship practices in many areas including energy usage, energy conservation, water conservation, recycling, waste reduction, environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, socially responsible purchasing and investing policies, landscaping policies, use of toxic chemicals, and environmental religious education for children and adults.  All of these areas plus our worship services relate to the seventh UU principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.  They also relate to the 2006 Statement of Conscience passed at General Assembly in June:  The Threat of Global Warming.

The third step was to write an Action Plan of 12 projects to be implemented by the congregation and its committees to observe more environmentally responsible practices.  These projects fall within four categories:  sustainable living, worship and celebration, education, and environmental justice.  The Action Plan was submitted in December 2006. Now we begin the process of accomplishing our Action Plan which depends on every member and friend of the Fellowship. 

Homeless Family Center:  The Homeless Family Center (HFC) is located at 720 4th Street, just west of US 1, in Vero Beach. After expanding its facility in the fall of 2004, it now houses a maximum of 70 men, women, and children. Our Fellowship provides one meal per month for the Center. Sometimes making casseroles, sometimes sandwiches, congregants gather to prepare and deliver the food by 4 PM on our assigned day. Salads, beverages, and desserts round out the meal. Ingredients, money, or “helping hands” are all needed. A “Frequently Asked Questions” sheet and a sign-up sheet for each month’s meal can be found in the lobby in the Social Justice Binder. In addition, toiletries are collected and delivered to HFC on our “meal day.” Sample-sized or hotel-size personal care products are perfect for the Center’s clients. A blue bin for collecting these items is located in the foyer under the sign up sheet table.  Anne Tschinkel chairs this Social Justice project.

Sharing of Sustenance Sunday:  Our Fellowship has been observing Sharing of Sustenance Sunday since our 1989-90 fiscal year. On the first Sunday of every month, congregants bring non-perishable food or money for the Indian River Food Pantry, located at  2221 15th Avenue in Vero Beach. The cash is used by IRFP to buy food items from a food bank in Ft. Pierce.  In 2007 we donated $2,139.00 and 610 pounds of food.  In 2006 we donated $2,429.90 and 595 pounds of food. Disposable diapers and baby food are also collected to assist a loving family in Sebastian who fosters babies, toddlers, and youngsters who are HIV positive. Many sizes of diapers are needed. During the winter months, clothing is also collected for migrant farm worker families. Clare Nichols initiated this Social Justice project which Clarence Conover and Peggy Buchholz now administer.

Reuse Exchange:  The Reuse Exchange at Keep Indian River Beautiful, located in Sebastian, collects a treasure trove of materials for teachers, scout leaders, church school and day care teachers to use for arts and crafts projects. Since these items might otherwise end up in the landfill, this program serves both teachers and the environment. Once a month, congregants bring all types of craft supplies as well as fabric, yarn, shoe boxes with lids, greeting card fronts, coffee cans, candles, styrofoam egg cartons and produce trays, just to name a few. (For a complete listing of recovery items, click here.) The Center also collects aluminum can pull tabs, BoxTops for Education coupons, and Campbell’s soup labels for schools. A large collection container can be found near the sign-up table in the lobby. Susan Winters initiated this Social Justice project which Anne Tschinkel now oversees.

Farm Worker Concerns and Project Niños:  Improving the lives of Florida farm workers has long been an area of concern in our Fellowship. We have collected clothing during the winter months and delivered it to the Redlands Christian Migrant Association in rural Fellsmere. We have also supported the RCMA’s day-care program in Fellsmere in a variety of ways: volunteers have read to the children, and new and gently used toys and books have been donated to their classrooms. While the main RCMA day care center is well supported by various local organizations, its “overflow” home centers are sometimes overlooked. Project Niños is a Christmas gift program for three small RCMA day care programs. Each pre-school-aged child is matched with a Fellowship donor who buys one toy or game and one article of clothing appropriate to the child’s age and size. Members of our Fellowship attend their holiday potluck and enjoy participating in the toddler’s delight when they open their gifts. In recent years, money has also been donated to these daycare home programs to purchase needed equipment, such as an art table and a tape recorder with multiple headsets. Norma and Carlos Mooney initiated this Social Justice project which is now co-chaired by Denise Haight and Maria Sobkowiak.

Acting also through education and witness, members of the Fellowship were educated about and encouraged to participate in the boycott of Taco Bell, organized in 2001 by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in Florida. The grievance was settled as of March 2005 with improved wages and a human rights code of conduct for the farm workers who pick tomatoes.  On Sunday, March 5, 2006, we held a letter writing table to encourage congregants to send letters to McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway franchises, asking them to follow Taco Bell's lead in making sure that their tomato suppliers adhere to fair wage and working condition rules in their dealings with farm workers.

Fair Trade Corner:  In June of 2001, just as world coffee market prices were beginning to collapse, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Coffee Project was launched at General Assembly. This project partners UUSC with Equal Exchange, a worker-owned fair trade organization founded in 1986. Buying coffee, tea, and cocoa directly from farmer cooperatives, Equal Exchange follows the standards and principles of fair trade on 100 percent of its products, ensuring that low-income farmers earn a fair price for their products. Direct payment to farmers also eliminates the middlemen, giving farmers a much larger share of the profits. In 2001 alone, Equal Exchange paid farmers almost $1 million above what they would have earned under conventional trade practices. This allows farmers to better meet their families' basic needs, such as food, education, and health care. In partnership with these small farmer cooperatives from India and Tanzania to Guatemala and Mexico, Equal Exchange also provides essential pre-harvest credits, gives technical assistance to cooperatives, encourages environmentally sustainable practices, and healthy and safe working conditions.

In 2002, UUFVB’s Social Activities Committee made the commitment to serve only Fair Trade coffee on Sunday mornings. The Committee knew that this single act of conscience was making a difference in the lives of small coffee farmers. The Committee were serving not just a cup of coffee, but a just cup! Because the organically-grown, shade-grown coffee is also more delicious, congregants wanted the coffee for home use as well. Our Fair Trade Corner began selling the coffee in small packages and encouraging other Fellowship committees to serve Fair Trade coffee at their meetings and events. In just three years, their product line has grown to include teas, baking cocoa, hot cocoa mix, chocolate bars, organically grown cashews, bean soup mixes, and notepaper products made from the dung of endangered elephants (known as Elli Pooh products). Gale Parmentier chairs this Social Justice project.