The Newsletter  July 2019   
           
 
Our theme this month in worship and religious education is Interdependence


This month, Adult Enrichment Opportunities include:
 
Second Monday Morning Covenant Discussion Group, July 8, 10:00 am until noon at the church
 
Brown Bag Books, July 16, 12 noon in Fellowship Hall
 
NUUC Women's Group, Sunday, July 28 after service in Nielsen House. Everyone identifying as female is welcome.


Picnic July 28

Join us for  a delightful picnic July 28, right after church, a potluck at Shale Hollow Park, a mere 5 minutes from NUUC. So, bring anything you'd like to share, and even if you can't bring anything, we don't care! We want you there!  There is only one road that goes into the park~follow it  until its very end to find a grill, picnic tables, and a restroom. We will provide cups, plates, utensils, and chicken salad sandwiches. Anything else is welcome. If you have any questions: melindarosenberg@gmail.com.  In case of rain, we'll just picnic indoors at NUUC!


Capital Campaign and Building Expansion Project Going Extremely Well!  An Update. 

Likely you have been wondering what's going on with our building expansion project.  A lot has been happening-while the duck's body above the surface has been calm, the feet below the water are paddling hard.  The building committee has been working hard with Kay Onwukwe, our architect, and Shaun Greer, our construction consultant, on the details of Kay's building design.  Meanwhile, the capital campaign is going well.  We have a total of $795K pledged so far, which is 94% of the low end of our goal for the campaign.  Success for achieving that goal is practically guaranteed, as we have a generous offer of $40K to use to match gifts intended to close the gap between our current collection and our goal.  We also have had three donors who have already indicated their wiliness to contribute generously if we need extra to meet our goal.  At a recent meeting of the Capital Campaign Committee, we decided to wait until Ingathering (the second Sunday in September) to official announce our "close the gap, matching gift" campaign.  This is for a number of reasons.  Firstly, it allows us to both contribute to and benefit from the excitement of the start of the church year.  At that time we plan to show you some exciting renderings of what our building will look like when completed:  both a series of 2-D drawings done by a professional artists and a 3-D building "fly through" put together by our own John Foreman.  Secondly, we want to wait to wait to announce exactly how much we need to close the gap until we know our building budget in exact detail.  By then we will have a specific and detailed cost estimate for construction of Kay's design, as well as specific numbers for some of the "soft costs," including financing for a bridge loan that will allow us to start construction before the end of our three year capital campaign collection period.  This way, we will be able to make our ask based on a precise picture of our needs.  And while we are working to establish precise figures, all signs now indicate that we have every reason to anticipate our financial resources will enable us to build the design Kay has present to us.    When will construction begin?  You might see some action late this summer or fall with some initial steps, but our best projection right now has us breaking serious ground in early Spring, 2020.  Let your Board know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns: board@nuuc.org
Right now, we celebrate that we have every reason to believe that we will be able to achieve our goals.  Thank you for your continued generosity.

Lewis Center Road Closed at North Road

The next time you head to church, you will likely find Lewis Center Road closed at the intersection of North; the county is constructing a traffic circle there (North Road is located between High Street/23 and the railroad tracks).  During this time it would be best to approach church from the East/Old State Road.  The closure started on June 24, and is expected to last 60 days.  This is just one of the signs of the many changes in our church neighborhood!
 


Social Justice News

ANNUAL SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE: It's back to school! In 
Delaware, the first day of school is August 14th. NUUC 
members and friends have an opportunity to help others 
by participating in the annual School Supply Drive to benefit  students who are served by the Delaware County Juvenile  Probation Program. The donation of school supplies is one  way for the congregation to express its belief in the  importance of education to a group of students who are  at higher than average risk for failing and dropping out of  school. This program serves approximately 150 middle  school and high school students, ranging in age from 13  to 19. A collection box for school supplies will be available  at  the church through Sunday, August 11th. Your donation of  school supplies, or money to purchase supplies, will be  greatly  appreciated. If you choose to donate money, please  write your check to NUUC and put "School Supplies" on the  memo line. This can be dropped in the offering basket or  mailed to: NUUC, P.O. Box 541, Lewis Center, OH 43035.  
If you have any questions, please contact Diane Mattox at   614-204-4184 or dimattox@gmail.com. Thank you for your  continued support! 

INTERFAITH ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL OHIO
Main Event Dinner - Civility in an Era of Hostility, August 
18, 2019, 5:00 pm at Bethel International United Methodist  Church, 1220 Bethel Road, Columbus, OH 43220. There is  abundance of incivility, hostility and polarization in our  community, our country, and around the world. Professor  Paul Numrich of the Methodist Theological School in Ohio  and Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University will  moderate a panel discussion on ways to address this  negativity from an interfaith perspective. Look for more  information on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall or the  IACO Facebook page or website.

UU JUSTICE OHIO: Assist Immigrant Families Travelling 
Through Ohio: Every day, hundreds of asylum-seeking 
immigrant families from Guatemala, El Salvador, and 
Honduras; many with very young children, are placed on 
buses in border towns and sent north to stay with sponsors  or other family members. They are traveling to cities across the  country - New York, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia and on.

These families will spend 3 or 4 or even more days on a 
bus or waiting in a bus station for the next connection. 
Most have no food, no money and no possessions beyond  what  they carry in slim backpacks. Most need simple  necessities like diapers, baby wipes, toothpaste, cough  drops, fruit for the children, etc. 

This is why volunteers in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and  Cleveland have been organizing to meet the buses at the  Greyhound station and offer bags of food, fruit, basic 
hygiene  items, baby needs and more. When buses are late,  as they often are, and connections missed, volunteers  also help families rebook their tickets.

A recent New York Times article traced the journey of a
family over 85 hours and 1,600 miles on a bus. The 
author described one bus station in Texas: "Refuse had 
long before overfilled the available trash bins, and a 
rank odor wafted out from the restrooms. Mothers, 
fathers and children huddled together on scraps of 
cardboard, atop tattered blankets and splayed jackets. 
Feverish babies with runny noses fussed in their 
mothers' arms." See more of the story at the UUJO 
website: www.UUJO.org 

You Can Help: It is hard not to feel helpless in the face 
of the enormous humanitarian crisis on our southern 
border. Here are some ways you can help by welcoming 
these families and helping supply some basic comforts 
for their long journeys.

1. Donate: You can donate to the different city teams 
online or by check to help purchase basic supplies in bulk.  
Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio (501c3) is handling 
tax-deductible donations to purchase supplies that 
volunteers then bag and take to the bus station. You 
can connect or donate through the link on the front page of the UUJO website: www.uujo.org. 

Or send a check, noting "Families - Columbus" in the memo line, to:
UUJO-Families
PO Box 980
Worthington, OH 43085

If you prefer to donate supplies themselves, there will be  a collection box in Fellowship Hall. Please choose from the  following list: 
* Water in plastic bottles that can be reused
* Fresh fruit - apples, mandarins, oranges, tangerines 
(not bananas - they spoil quickly)
* Apple or other real fruit juice in small boxes or cans
* Tuna or chicken in small cans with pull-tab tops
* V8 or Vegetable Juice in cans
* Fruit cups with pull-tab tops that don't need refrigeration
* Pedialyte in powder form only (to be added to water bottles for small children)
* Large or medium sized disposable diapers
* Baby wipes
* Travel size baby powder and/or Vaseline
* Toddler food in pouches that do not need refrigeration

2. Volunteer: Organizers in the different cities have been 
creating schedules and arranging volunteer organizing 
processes. To volunteer in Columbus, see the 
Cbus Immigrant Transit Assistance page - Cbus ITA - and fill out the volunteer form, click here


* We need volunteers to meet different buses at different times each day, including evening times. Please note that no special language skills are needed for this. Just your smile - and a sign.
* We need Spanish speakers to greet and help with questions.
* We need volunteers able to meet some of the buses that arrive at night.
* We need volunteers to meet at 'bagging parties" to put the supplies into bags in some of the cities.
* And we need volunteers of all ages and abilities.

Questions
Please contact Rev. Joan VanBecelaere, UUJO Executive Director, uujoanvanb@gmail.com


PLASTIC BAG REPURPOSING SUSPENDED DURING SUMMER: The Horizon women at ORW have graduated! A new group of participants will be moving in over the summer and formal programming will resume in September. During the summer, please take your plastic bags to a grocery store that recycles them. In September, we will resume collecting bags for the women at ORW who use them to make sleeping mats for the homeless.