Opportunities for Sharing and Enrichment

FLOODING IN PAKISTAN
  If you would like to contribute to relief for victims of the flooding in Pakistan, make your check payable to Euclid Avenue Congregational Church and on the memo line write “International Disaster Relief – Pakistani Flooding.”  Your contribution will be sent to those in need through the United Church of Christ.
WREN NEEDS
  Women’s Re-entry Network (WREN), an organization that serves both incarcerated and recently released women, is in need of the following:
  • For the women in the re-entry program: large-sized shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and deodorant.
  • For the women in Cuyahoga County Jail: travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deodorant, and toothpaste. Please give your donations to Kathy Baker, 216-383-1684.
THE DYNAMIC DOLPHINS
  The Early Childhood Development Center, the Cleveland Public School that we “adopted” this year, invited those of us who have been volunteering there to their Volunteer Luncheon on May 25. Not only were we given a delicious meal, but we were honored with many gifts and recognition for tutoring and also for both stocking and staffing the “Dolphin Depot,” the store where children can buy toys and trinkets with the “Dolphin Dollars” they’ve earned for good behavior. Ann Drysdale was presented with a book of letters of thanks from the children. Ann has been the one purchasing items for the store, recruiting volunteers to staff it, and maintaining our relationship with the “Dynamic Dolphins.”
ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES
  Read below for all the opportunities coming your way in October for learning, advocacy, spiritual
growth, and service. In chronological order, starting with ongoing:

Pen pal Prison Project: 36 women in the Northeast Pre-Release Center would like to correspond with members and friends of our church. Some of them have been incarcerated for over a decade, and don’t receive much mail any more. Please contact Kathy Baker if you would like to become a pen pal to one of these women.

Cleveland Clinic’s MD Project: Applications are now being accepted for Cleveland Clinic’s Charles R. Drew Saturday Academy. The program is a collaborative internship program sponsored by the Cleveland Clinic and Health Legacy of Cleveland and is designed for underrepresented minority students with a health career goal of becoming a physician, research scientist, physician investigator or physician leader. Successful applicants will commit to attending 12 sessions on consecutive Saturdays from January 16, 2010 through the month of March, culminating with a graduation ceremony on March 30. Please contact the church office for application and forms.

Mother/Child Journals (for use in jail)

  • soft covered lined notebooks
  • construction paper
  • glue sticks

Jail toiletry bags

  • small TRAVEL SIZED toiletries: lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, conditioner, bar soap
  • small zip-lock bags
  • NO mouthwash
CITIZEN CIRCLE
  Citizen Circle, a program co-sponsored by our church and the Church of the Covenant, continues to meet once a month with people who have requested our help in re-entering the community after years, if not decades, of incarceration. We are in need of more members to fill the gaps in the Circle left by those who have left us, Johnnie Mitchell being one of those. If you feel called to this ministry or have some questions about it, please speak to Kathy Baker, Jewel Green, Calvin Humphrey, Nathaniel Martin or Dean Sieck.
UPCOMING INTERACT EVENTS
  From Martyrdom to Hope “Insisting on Life” is a presentation by Dr. Nasser Abufarha. He will explain how his research on suicide bombers led to the founding of The Palestine Fair Trade Association, which has grown into 49 producer cooperatives with over 1700 small farmers. Profits from the olive oil fund college scholarships, micro-loans for women, replanting of thousands of uprooted olive trees, and jobs that provide hope for the embattled West Bank city of Jenin. Dr. Abufarha’s dissertation, “The Making of a Human Bomb: An Ethnography of Palestinian Resistance” was published by Duke University Press in August 2009. For more information please RSVP to:
maryanndkerr@aol.com or 216-371-1855.
.............
Save the date! Ecumenical Servant Day! A day for Christians from four denominations to join in working together to help others. This passionate group is made up of the Roman Catholic Church Diocese of Cleveland, the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, The East Ohio Conference United Methodist Church, Northeastern Ohio Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Join us on Saturday, September 25 from 9 am to 4pm. To register contact:
(216)-696-6525 or 
info@dioceseofcleveland.org. 
...........................
As members of InterAct, EACC continues to participate in their Community Meals program by serving the Fifth Monday Meal at Calvary Presbyterian Church under the leadership of Cloggie Crowder. We served such a meal on August 30 to a large crowd. Earlier in August, volunteers from many churches, mosques and temples came together for a Community Meals Summer Potluck Picnic. There we learned about the results of the impressive Hunger in America 2010 Survey from The Cleveland Food Bank’s Jean Toth. Attached is a copy of the summary results of this survey. Highlights of the results include:
• 46% increase in the number of people served compared to four years ago
• 1 in 9 people locally receive food assistance in 2009
• 1 in 4 children under 5 in Ohio lives on the brink of hunger ranking Ohio 3rd in the nation
• 15% of people served are seniors
(a 75% increase over 2005)
We will serve our next Fifth Monday Meal on November 29.
Children's Defense Fund
  The Cleveland office of the Children’s Defense Fund has begun an ecumenical and interfaith network of women, called Women of Faith, to provide strong effective voices for children. Of particular concern are poor children who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves. To learn more about this ministry, please phone Rev. Mylion Waite, Senior Manager, at 216-298-4480.
DONATIONS NEEDED
  The Renaissance Residence, scheduled to open this month, is a 12 month re-entry program for women sponsored by “Just Like Us” Family Enrichment Center. The program will provide support and help prepare women for employment, re-uniting with families, housing, education and community. Donations of twin sized linens, towels, wash cloths, toiletry items, paper goods, kitchen supplies, cleaning materials, shower curtains, washable rugs, robes, house shoes, dressers and night stands are needed. Contact Dyeatra Williams at dew7@sbcglobal.net
PRISON MINISTRY AT EACC
  Thanks to those of you who have been bringing in personal hygiene items for the
women in the County Jail and Northeast Pre-release Center. There is a basket in
the parlor for your donations, and it is emptied and its contents delivered to the
women who need them at least twice monthly. They are not allowed glass
bottles, dental floss, aerosol cans, or anything - such as mouthwash - containing
alcohol, so please bring in items in plastic containers such as lotion, deodorant,
shampoo and conditioner. Toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap are also welcome.
ARE YOU A “SEASONED INDIVIDUAL?”
  Several Cleveland area nonprofit organizations, including the ACLU of Ohio, Community shares, Adoption Network Cleveland and Hard-Hatted Women, are collaborating on a volunteer program called “Engaging for Civic Change” supported by the Cleveland Foundation’s Successful Aging Initiative. They are looking for seasoned individuals moving into a new phase of their lives who want to volunteer to support the causes they care about. To learn more, visit www.communityshares.org/eecc.shtml or
call Francis Martin at Community Shares, 216-361-9920.

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