Social Justice Committee
Co-chairs Betty Gilson and Rev. Rachel Tedesco
Members: Claudette Baker, AJ Derby, Janet Dye, Susan Holton, Susan Irish, Laurie Lessner, and Lisa Troy
SJC Recommended Links
- bccrcivilrights.org – Bridgewater Communities for Civil Rights
- brocktoninterfaith.org – Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC)
- BSU Pride Center
- BSU Social Justice League
- Equal Exchange – delicious fairly traded, organic products!
- International Day of Peace – September 21, annually
- [email protected] – Martin Richard Institute for Social Justice at BSU
- Side with Love – a public advocacy campaign that seeks to harness love’s power to stop oppression. Sponsored by the UUA.
- UU Mass Action – We believe that our faith calls us to change the world.
- Unitarian Universalist Association – We are Unitarian Universalists. We are brave, curious, and compassionate thinkers and doers.
Continuing Actions
Helping the Hungry
Our Social Justice Committee collects non-perishable food items and paper goods for the local food pantry. We invite you to help the hungry in our local area by bringing these to the church. A collection basket is placed on the stage at the front of the Sanctuary to receive the items, which the Social Justice Committee members gather and deliver to our local food pantry which is housed at Central Square Congregational church.
Feeding the Homeless
Our church volunteers provide 75 lunches for MainSpring House in Brockton, 25 for Evelyn House (a shelter for the homeless women and their children in Stoughton), and 35 for Conway House, a shelter for homeless families in Middleboro. We gather the lunches on the first Thursday of each month by 9 a.m. which are then brought to the shelter by two of our volunteers. You can help in many ways, including donating baked goods, other food items, and paper goods as needed, preparing some lunches or simply donating money toward the cost of the lunches, which is about $100 per month for 100 lunches.
Please contact Betty Gilson ([email protected]) for further information.
The UUSC Coffee Project
In the world, coffee is one of the most heavily traded commodities. Coffee links our communities to farming communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Our participation in this project helps small farmers earn a fair price for their products and have access to affordable credit. We buy and serve Equal Exchange (EE) Fairly Traded shade grown coffee during our social hour every Sunday. The Social Justice committee is also selling this gourmet organically grown coffee for your home or office use. If you would like to purchase some beans or other fairly trade EE items such as cocoa, tea or olive oil please contact Janet Dye ([email protected]). More information can be found in the Parish Hall. Please support this effort and buy yourself some beans, tea or cocoa and a cup of justice!!!
Bridgewater’s Juneteenth Celebration
Beginning in 2021, our church has co-sponsored the town’s Juneteenth Celebration with the Bridgewater Communities for Civil Rights (BCCR). Its purpose is to celebrate, commemorate and educate the public about the meaning of the Juneteenth holiday. Our large outdoor event features speakers, performers, food and craft vendors, youth and family activities. The program is supported in part by a grant from the Bridgewater Cultural Council. We are proud to be a part of this annual celebration of freedom.
This year’s Juneteenth celebration is scheduled to take place on June 22 (with a rain date of June 23) on the East Campus of Bridgewater State University.
Social Justice Films
Since 2018 the SJC has co-hosted a Black Lives Matter film series with BCCR (Bridgewater Communities for Civil Rights). We held a monthly film viewing and discussion, open to the public in our Sanctuary or Upper Parish Hall. Since March 2020 these were done remotely, with the viewing done individually prior to the discussion. As the program progressed, we decided it should include films about all marginalized groups: Indigenous, Latinix, Asian and Pacific Islanders and LGBTQA+ . So it has been retitled Social Justice Films to recognize the wider scope. Also, rather than scheduling monthly showings, we make monthly selections for viewing to the church community and BCCR. Discussions can be beheld as needed.
Share the Plate Charities
Each month a percentage of the undesignated loose plate collection is donated to a special charity selected by the SJC with community input. These will focus on area groups and specific emergency needs such as disasters.
“Read to Me, Father” Program
A group of volunteers from First Parish and the wider community work at Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater once a week in a program called Read to Me, Father. This is a program where incarcerated fathers and father figures can record the reading of a book to a child in their lives. The volunteers help select appropriate books which are paid for by committee funds.
Social Justice Committee Annual Reports