Members of the Social Justice Coordinating Committee (SJCC) are frequently asked, “What does SJCC do?"
As the UUFCM Social Justice Coordinating Committee, we are committed to alerting congregational members and friends to events/needs, etc., in our local, regional, state, national and global world, so that individually and/or collectively we can, inspired by love, work to transform ourselves and our world.
 
While we will regularly announce events and needs through the e-News, the bulletin board in the fellowship hall, the order of service and on our closed Facebook page, we also directly alert members and friends who might have an interest in a specific issue. To this end, we ask that you fill out the attached survey and submit a hard copy to any of the members of the committee or e-mail your completed survey to Norma Bailey at baile1nj@cmich.edu.

From Mari Potter:
Hello, I need your help! I have been offered the opportunity to go to Nepal through Utopia Volunteers to help support victims of the earthquake at The Butterfly House Project and Early Childhood Development Center located in Katmandu, Nepal. I plan to be in Nepal for the month of July. The focus of my trip is simple: I will be working with Pushpa Basnet, CNN Hero of 2012, with 48 children she supports and the ECDC/Butterfly House. Children in Nepal go to prison with their mother's if there are no other guardians. Pushpa gets the children out of prison and raises them until their mother is released. Pushpa and her children are currently sleeping under an abandoned greenhouse and are still extremely exposed to the elements.

One way to help is to assist me in raising the funds to make this trip to Nepal in July. The Utopia Foundation will be funding part of my trip. I am working to come up with travel expenses. To donate toward my travel expenses:
• Go to http://utopiavolunteers.org/giving/support-the-general-fund/ 
• Choose the amount you will donate
• The next page is the Checkout Form. On the RIGHT side of the Checkout Form you will see 
Additional Information. In the Notes box, please type: For Mari Potter Nepal Travel and relief fund.

Going through this site and specifying that your donation is intended for Mari Potter Travel and Relief, is tax deductible and all of the donation will go toward my travel expenses. Any additional funds will go directly to Pushpa and her work. Your contribution will allow me (and you) the privilege to help in Katmandu Nepal. I can also take cash or checks to help pay for my other expenses.

Thank you in advance for your support with this cause. 
Mari Potter

Educating and Caring for the Orphaned Children of Rural Kenya
Tuesday, October 7 at 6 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Pleasant
Florence Oyosi is the Co-Founder and Director of His Arms Children’s Project, a non-governmental organization (NGO), whose mission it is to organize financial and educational support for orphaned children in the Ekwanda/Maseno area of Western Kenya. In her presentation, Ms. Oyosi will share the struggles of the women and orphaned children there. Using photos and case studies, she will demonstrate how grassroots efforts can lead to improved lives of people living in extreme poverty. For more information, contact Renee Babcock at 989-773-6936 or babco1rl@cmich.edu. St. John’s is at the corner of Washington and Maple in Mt. Pleasant. Read the complete flyer announcement here on our website.