Social Action Council Update: October 2026 Edition

19 hours ago

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.

Advocacy & Witness

The Medical Aid in Dying bill has moved to the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee, and that's the farthest it has ever made it. MAID has recently been legalized in both New York and Illinois.
The Social Action Council will appear on a flyer as sponsors for the October 17 No Kings event in Wellesley.
The Black Lives Matter vigils are held on the first Sunday of each month at noon after service. We stand outside the church for 15 minutes with our BLM-themed signs. It is encouraging to see and hear the many supportive honks and waves we get each month. The 9-year anniversary of our vigil is in November! Please join us on November 1 at noon.
Elaine Mittell hosted a postcard writing party to write postcards for the Center for Common Ground. Twelve UUWH members participated and they completed 200 postcards to get out the vote in Georgia.

Immigration Justice

Last year, the Asylee and Refugee team morphed into the Immigration Justice task force. The purposes of this team include:

Gathering information about immigration justice issues and efforts to address them in Massachusetts, the US, and the world;
Participating in UU Mass Action and interfaith gatherings that focus on sharing information and developing strategies to address injustices;
Communicating through UUWH channels (our website, weekly and SAC updates, Just Desserts) to share information about immigration justice issues and opportunities to pursue social action;
Developing initiatives that allow UUWH members and friends to take action together on behalf of immigrants being persecuted;
Raising funds for immigration justice organizations through plate collections.

If you would like to participate in any of these activities, please contact Elaine Mittell.

LGBTQ+

The pride event held on our property in June was a huge success. Many church members and members of the public were in attendance. It was coordinated by World of Wellesley (WOW); they are expected to host it again next year and ask us to provide the site.

The OUT MetroWest gala is October 22. The September 27 plate collection raised the money for our sponsored table. If you are interested in attending, please contact Kathy Kaufmann. For more information about the gala, click HERE.

UU Partners

UU Service Committee (UUSC)

Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, president of UUSC, is retiring at the end of this year. They may start out with an interim president to replace her. We will continue to support their work by doing two plate collections for them each year. If you are interested in learning more about UUSC, contact Kathy Kaufmann.

UU Urban Ministry (UUUM)

UUUM had a ribbon cutting in June for the reopening of the historic meeting house.

On December 6, Rev. Mary Margaret Earl (Executive Director and Senior Minister of UUUM) will be in the pulpit and our plate collection will benefit the organization.

Partner Church

The parish house in Torocko has been refurbished, including new cabinets.

The minister and his wife, Marton and Lilla, and their new baby, are doing well. We continue to stay in touch with them and support the congregation with two plate collections each year.

Family Promise Metrowest

The upcoming fundraiser Keeping the Promise: Hope in Action will be held on November 5 at the Verve Hotel in Natick. For more information on this event, to buy tickets, or make a donation, click HERE.

Bristol Lodge

We continue to provide meals to Bristol Lodge. We deliver the monthly meal on the third Monday of each month, and cook it at the church the day before that, after Sunday service. We rely on volunteers each month to cook the meal. If you would like to help cook or deliver the food, please contact Jim McLaren.

Our next cooking date is Sunday October 18. Please join us!

Fighting Back - Voting Rights

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 voting rights.

The upcoming midterm elections are important, and there are organizations helping with the actual election and getting out the vote.

Last Sunday our plate collection was for Election Protection, which provides voters in every state with information they need to vote. They use a wide range of tools and activities to protect, advance, and defend the right to vote. Election Protection's resources include a voter hotline, a Black Voters Survival Guide, and voter registration tools. If you missed the plate collection and would like to support them, or to volunteer, click HERE.

Have you ever thought about helping out at the polls? The League of Women Voters is helping people to sign up as volunteers on election day in Massachusetts. Volunteers are needed in areas such as helping people with new voting machines, serving as a translator, assisting voters in completing ballots, closing a precinct and preparing election materials, and other areas.

For information about volunteering at a poll, click HERE.

If you or anyone you know needs information on how to register to vote or how to vote by mail or in person, click HERE.

Mass Vote is a local organization that helps to increase voter registration, education, and participation in historically underrepresented communities throughout Massachusetts. For information about volunteering for them, click HERE. To donate, click HERE.

Who We Are

The Social Action Council includes 12 church members, who are either at-large members or leads of subteams, as shown below. We welcome our newest member, Marie Kemmler.

Irene Flint (at-large member and Indigenous Peoples team/Advocacy & Witness subgroup co-lead)
Kathy Kaufmann (LGBTQ+ representative and at-large member)
Therese Kelly (at-large member)
Marie Kemmler (at-large member)
Anne-Laure Lehman (Family Promise lead)
Frank McGrath (at-large member; treasurer rep)
Tracy McGrath (chair)
Jim McLaren (Bristol Lodge lead)
Elaine Mittell (Advocacy & Witness lead; Immigration Justice lead, UU Partners member)
Doug Poutasse (UU Partners lead)
Molly Walsh (End of Life Options Act/Advocacy & Witness subgroup lead)
Sally Watts (Indigenous Peoples team/Advocacy & Witness subgroup co-lead)

Our subteams are Advocacy & Witness, Immigration Justice, Bristol Lodge, LGBTQ+, UU Partners, and Family Promise. If you would like any information on the Council or any of our subteams, please contact any of the members listed above.

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; 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, in June we raised $882 for Camp Starfish, and $890 in September for Future Chefs to help prepare teens for life and work after high school. And this year our summer plate collections for the Greater Boston Food Bank raised $2029. Thank you for your generosity every week!