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Minutes of Peace and Social Concerns Meetings
April 6, 2008
April 27, 2008
May 25, 2008
June 29, 2008
July 27, 2008
August 31, 2008
September 28, 2008
October 26, 2008
November 30, 2008

Minutes - Peace and Social Concerns Meeting
September 28, 2008

present were: Kate Murphey, Ken Magee, Faith Marsalli, and Shari and Bill Burke

Peace Supper: We began by discussing the recent Peace Supper. We agreed that the presenter, Carol Imani, would get a $100 honorarium. Ken said he would relay this to Jo so she could send a check. We thought that things went pretty well, but time was an issue that we will have to be more cognizant of in the future. We began late, the presentation was rather long, and as a result we went past the ending time we had set. So we will be better at beginning on time in the future. Some ideas for future Peace Suppers include one on immigration issues and looking at different approaches to doing international aid projects and promoting self-sufficiency.

Food Bank project: We agreed that we wanted to follow up on a family that a member of the meeting brought to our attention last week. This family lives far out of town and is basically cut off from town during the winter with no access to grocery stores, and they are in a situation of financial hardship. They are trying to stock up on various kinds of food that will get them through the winter-rice, beans, flour, etc. But it was suggested that we might want to help contribute canned fruits and vegetables and other things to help them-Faith will get more information from the person who directed this family to our attention. We considered the idea of adopting this family in October and other families in November and December instead of collecting for the food bank. Kate felt, however, that it was important to maintain the relationship we had started with the food bank as a way to show that we support the efforts other people are making. Upon reflection, we decided to do both, so we will adopt families in October, November, and December, as well as continue our collection. In October and November we will collect things people will use for holiday meals. On a related note, Bread for the World is designating October 19 as a special day to focus on hunger related issues. Faith will look for materials to use in meeting for worship and we will put a special emphasis on encouraging people to bring in food for our family and the food bank on that day.

The Kaimosi University scholarship fund was next on the agenda. Before we can move forward on this, we will need more information from Doug Bakke, who is a liaison with the people in Kenya. Faith will be seeing him, so she will get what information he has. Since the university is not opening for another year, we have time to decide how to proceed. When we are able to make a decision, we will do so as a committee and then bring a recommendation to the rest of the meeting.

As we progressed with the previous discussion, we ended up talking about the need to really focus on education about whatever projects we are supporting through Quaker Bakers. So we will be sure to have information sheets available on the table with links to pertinent websites, information and whatever else seems appropriate. We will also have visuals.

Faith had some new information on the immigration issue - she spoke to Colin Saxton who directed her to Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and the Reedwood Friends meeting. They are involved in these issues and perhaps someone might come down for a Peace Supper presentation. Kate suggested that we might want to find someone who could address the local situation and Faith said she would look into this.

Finally, a few words were said about the banner hanging outside and we agreed to leave it hanging there for awhile, though Ken voiced a concern about it being up continuously and not being seen anymore.

September food drive canned and/or dried soup

October Food Drive will be food used for Holiday meals