Annual Report of Testimonies and Concerns, November, 2009:
Members: Chris Polk, Cynthia Browne, Gwen Beegle. Jamie duHoffmann , Leigh Anne Dodge, Lorraine Claggett, Nancy Mullen, Norman Hackland, Sarah Sayre, Susan Dabney, Tatiana Harrison. In 2009 T&C engaged in:
T&C authorized the spending of $3,000.00, as authorized by the Meeting for Business in January 2009, for emergency needs of the local community. $2,000.00 went to the Neighborhood Service Center, $200.00 each to the local soup kitchen at Asbury United Methodist, Scotts Methodist in Trappe and Bethel AME, and the remaining $400.00 to the Talbot Interfaith Shelter.
Talbot Interfaith Shelter: Last season, we housed 13 individuals for 81 nights and 51 days. Thirteen faith communities provided 417 volunteers, 238 bed nights and 714 meals. We received $3090 from individual donations, $2000 from faith communities, $330 from community organizations and $250 from businesses. The coalition hopes to find more permanent quarters this year. As they did not find a place for the shelter, the churches will be asked to host as they did last year. Our meeting is in unity to lend our support tyo TIS and serve as a host church this year.
Lobbying/Letter writing to Repeal Capital Punishment: With Jim Paul's advisement, written & published in Star Democrat Feb. 2009. Forwarded to state representatives.
"Keep the Maryland Guard Home" campaign: Going on its seventh year, the Iraq war has taken its toll on not only the US military, but also on the states's National Guard units, which were called up when Congress passed the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) against Iraq. Now a growing state-level movement is working to keep the Guard at home. Its logic: The AUMF's goals have been fulfilled. The authorization's explicit purposes were to defend the US against the "threat posed by Iraq" and to enforce UN Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq's alleged ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein - along with his supposed threat - is gone, and the UN resolutions are no longer relevant, so there's no longer a mandate to keep troops in Iraq. Our Lobby Night for the Campaign was Feb. 23. Two Friends attended this lobby night and one was asked to return to speak before the house and senate committees considering the bill, Lobby Day Death Penalty Repeal,
Monday March 9th activists came to Annapolis from around the state to lobby their elected officials. Attended by one Friend
Lobbying/Civil Disobedience to raise awareness of our climate in crisis: Non-Violence Training in advance of the Capital Coal Action took place on 2/21/09 in Landover, MD. On March 2nd, the largest mass civil disobedience for the climate, Capitol Climate Action, occurred in Washington, D.C. Three Friends attended the training and the action in Washington, D.C.
Faith in Action speaker: February 15 (Sunday) following Meeting for Worship, T&C hosted a Simple Meal and Faith in Action Speaker. David Hosey shared his story after a year of mission work in the Middle East. He was working with a Palestinian/Christian organization called Sabeel, and is currently working in Washington, D.C. at the US Campaign to End the Occupation. We had 32 in the audience and about $165 in donations for the Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
Faith in Action speaker: April 5 (Sunday) following Meeting for Worship, T&C hosted a Simple Meal and Faith in Action Speaker PYM's Ministry for Racial Justice & Equality speakers came to THFM to share their work in making Friends Meetings more open to all, how to heal the hurts of racism, and how to overcome fear and the practices of marginalizing of People of Color. Their focus is to 'take the plank out of our eyes...' before taking the plank out of the other....
Multi-cultural festival: May 2 (Saturday) THFM participated in the Easton Multicultural Festival. T&C had a table with handouts and another table for children to draw a peace mural.
Haitian Bake Sale: To supprt the Oxford Holy Trinity Church and 3 other churches who are planning a trip to Haiti in November to bring medical and school supplies to impoverished Haitian villages, T&C held a bake sale, with the help of First Day School, on September 27, and raised $180 to support the mission.
ON-GOING PROJECTS & BACK BURNER ISSUES:
Finding a volunteer to be the Host Site person for the Talbot Interfaith Shelter this coming winter. This person will be responsible for attracting and scheduling volunteers to help when the shelter is at Third Haven. This date is tentatively Feb. 28 through March 14.
Helping to find volunteers to help staff the lending library at Talbot County Detention Center, run by Ralph & Mary Young.
Continuing monthly workshops for the Alternatives to Violence Project at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Somerset Co, Maryland. AVP worked with 231 inmates in 14 3-day workshops and trained three more outside volunteers to assist at ECI.
Gathering and assessing information on a campaign to find answers to our questions regarding military recruitment in Maryland's public high-schools.
How do we counter media biases and spin? Where do we find information that is reliable and accurate?