October 2008 through September 2009
Presented 4 October 2009
The Peace & Social Justice Committee has as its mission to promote the prospects for peace by deepening the Meeting's engagement in peace building and social justice and by empowering all of us as individuals. Advocacy, education, vigils, and financial support of community groups are among the ways the committee pursues its mission as well as through its liaison with the American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Quaker UN Office, and other like-minded groups.In this last year, the work of our committee was greatly enhanced by our participation in the BYM Networking Day for Peace & Social Concerns Committees and by our clerks' participation in the Arthur Larrabee workshop on the joys of committee work. From the former, we learned the value of asking ourselves and sharing what we thought our successes were, what were the challenges, and what areas we wanted to focus on. Seeds were planted in that process which evolved and grew during the course of the year, such as supporting local efforts to provide assistance to Montgomery County's neediest, addressing immigration concerns, and developing more dynamic liaisons with other organizations and congregations. Through the committees workshop, we gained an understanding of the importance of sharing more deeply with one another and of using our committee time more productively
Successes.
1. We organized or sponsored 18 events during the year, including:
- eight peace vigils in downtown Bethesda with 15 participants distributing 1,500 pieces of AFSC Costs of War literature,
- four nonviolent communication workshops attended by approximately 10 people each time,
- a workshop with Helena Cobban with 25 people from various area Meetings,
- the Miniwalkathon for the Interfaith Housing Coalition, involving 17 walkers who raised more than $1,000,
- a presentation by the AFSC on their African Regional program and an informal session on the African Great Lakes Initiative work in Kenya,
- a tour of the SFS Lower School with Mike Saxenian and Steve Sawyer to learn more about the greening of the facilities we share and a reflection on the queries on stewardship and simplicity.
2. We have strengthened our relationships with other groups and our liaisons and made our committee meetings much more interesting, including:
- presentations on Jubilee Jobs, Women for Women International, Bethesda Help, the Molenje School and Clinic, Washington Quaker Workcamps, the Lower School Community Outreach program, Seeds for Peace, Bethesda Cares, CASA of Maryland, and (in Burundi) Trees for the Future, AFSC, AGLI, and the Magarama II Peace Primary School.
- Tom Walker is participating regularly on the program committee of the AFSC/DC project.
- three to five of us regularly participate in the work of Action in Montgomery and on one occasion we had 20 participants. The result in this year of economic downturn was that the only increase in the County budget was for affordable housing.
- three of us were able to attend the Maryland United for Peace & Justice Conference, which we co-sponsor.
(We recommend support for 18 organizations, which receive $9,150 from Meeting funds; are particularly interested in eight additional, mostly Quaker, organizations, which receive $8,960 under the regular budget; and designate the social concerns boxes, which received $6,304 in donations in FY 2009. The lists of recipient organizations and amounts sent to them are attached. We will be happy to provide to those who request it our document describing each organization and our relationship to it.)
Challenges.
1. Refining our focus.
2. Being patient and persistent re becoming a greener meeting.
