Social Action Council Update: February Edition
- Social Action Council
- Feb 26
- 5 min read
The Social Action Council continues to meet bimonthly, on the third Tuesdays of September, November, January, March, and May. The following are highlights from our teams and other social action activities.
Bristol Lodge
Our first plate collection for Bristol Lodge this church year will be on March 15, the day we will cook the monthly meal. Thank you for continuing to support this special program that provides meals for people in need. Your donations help us pay for the popular meal we provide them every month.
Advocacy & Witness
The Black Lives Matter vigil continues to go strong. For our vigil on February 1 we had 26 people standing outside in the frigid weather for racial justice. If you have never attended the vigil, please consider joining us. In addition to members of the congregation, we are always joined by others from the town and other local congregations as well. It is inspiring to see and hear the many affirming honks and waves from people in the cars driving past us.
The walk-out rally in January and the protest this past Saturday in Wellesley were well attended and successful, with many positive responses from drivers. A group of people from the church attended both rallies.
The End of Life Options Act is in the Massachusetts Ways & Means Committee, which is as far as it has ever gotten in the process. As it is also early in the session, that is another good sign and we are hopeful that it may pass this year.
LGBTQ+
This year's OUT MetroWest snack drive will be in May. We will collect snacks for the youth programs to enjoy. Stay tuned to the weekly updates for information on what snacks to collect when it gets closer.
Family Promise
Family Promise had a successful Keeping the Promise fundraiser, raising around $150,000 to support their programs.
Save the date for the Walk to Prevent Homelessness on Sunday May 3. Stay tuned for more information in April.
Family Promise has announced a new transitional housing program that houses up to five families at a time in a 5-bedroom home in Southboro. It will provide a stable environment while the families work toward financial stability and personal development goals.
UU Partners
The UU Service Council has organized a civil rights pilgrimage in the South this month that will include visits to Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma.
The UU Urban Ministry is doing well and their staffing is stable. The Meeting House finally passed required inspections after the renovations; however, they do not have the occupancy certificate in hand yet.
News from our Partner Church - Rev. Marton's wife, Lilla, is expecting their first child and is due in April. We are still planning to schedule a Sunday to share information about the Torocko visit last July. Rev. Mark will lead a service about the visit, and we will hold a photo presentation and discussion after the service.
Asylee and Refugee
The Temple Beth Elohim New Americans program is essentially on hold right now, as no new immigrants can safely arrive. Some of the Syrian families that they were serving are all moving to Syracuse, where there is a substantial Syrian community. Since they are not focusing on resettling right now, the TBE group plans to hold a meeting in mid February to discuss new directions.
We are trying to arrange for ICE verifier training from LUCE. In the meantime, if you are interested in it, please contact Elaine Mittell, and she can share a link to their "Eyes on ICE: Document and Record" training.
Undecorate The Tree Was Successful!
We delivered 88 gift cards to UU Urban Ministry for members of their shelter program and their youth program. Thank you to all who donated gift cards!
MLK Luncheon
The World of Wellesley MLK event was a luncheon this year. We sponsored a large table of UU Wellesley attendees, and even overflowed to another table. The speaker was J.R. Harris, an author and wilderness explorer. His book is called Way Out There: Adventures of a Wilderness Trekker.
Food Insecurity - Ways to Help
Our plate collection theme for March is hunger and we will hold collections for the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Wellesley Food Pantry, and Bristol Lodge. In the meantime, you can always help local food pantries by donating foodstuffs.
The Wellesley Food Pantry, located at 207 Washington Street, accepts food donations on Mondays from 2-3:00, or deposited any time in the WFP bins at the Roche Bros. on Linden Street. They accept non-perishable food that is unopened and not expired. Right now they are requesting spaghetti, canned tomatoes, canned peas, Dinty Moore beef stew, olive oil, nuts, and honey. For more information, see
The Natick Service Council, located at 2 Webster Street, accepts donations in the food donation bin at their entrance on Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m to 4 p.m., or deposited any time in the NSC bins at the Roche Bros. on West Central Street. They accept non-perishable food that is unopened and not expired. Right now they are requesting snack items, cereals, ground and instant coffee, baking mixes, jarred pasta sauce, nut and seed butters, and personal care products. For more information, see
Fighting Back - Rights and Support for Immigrants
The Social Action Updates include information on the things we are involved with that can help others. In this section of each update, we will also include information on organizations that can help with a specific issue of concern, such as immigrant rights and support.
A third round of No Kings protests will happen across the country on March 28. The first two protests last year were well attended in Wellesley and surrounding towns, including Natick. Members of our congregation attended these protests last year and will attend again in March. Check the weekly updates next month for information about the protests.
Consider supporting LUCE, the Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts, as they fight to protect immigrants in our communities. They are committed to keeping our communities safe through grassroots organizing, information sharing, and mutual aid. They are accepting contributions to help with their important work. Donations will support the LUCE Hotline and other LUCE activities. For more information:
LUCE has a defense hotline people can call if they think they see ICE in their community: 617-370-5023. The website listed above contains more information on their hotline and volunteer opportunities.
We also continue to support the local organization Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network. They work to ensure that migrants arriving here receive a warm welcome. BIJAN responds to critical needs by supplying emergency hotel rooms, arranging for migrants to stay with local families, and supplying medical and food needs. You can get involved with helping immigrants or donate to this fund on their website:
Our weekly updates provide information about local protests of ICE activities. For example, there is a weekly protest at the Home Depot on Speen Street in Natick on Saturdays from 1-2:00. For details on these protest opportunities, see the weekly updates.
The Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative serves 15 local organizations that help immigrants in our community. Through shared funding, collaboration, and care, they help their partners deliver critical services that build stability and opportunity for immigrant families. For information on donating to them or volunteering, see their website:
Social Action Plate Collections
We continue to use all of our plate collections for helping our social action partners and other organizations doing urgent work, and 100% of what we receive goes to the selected organization each week. We are making a difference in many peoples' lives through our collections. For example, we helped programs to end elder homelessness by raising $760 for Hearth, $1135 for World Central Kitchen, and $848 for CASA/Metrowest Workers Center, which helps the immigrant worker community. Thank you for your generosity every week!
