Weekly E-News, August 27, 2020

This Week's Service

Sunday, August 30, 10:30 AM

Guest Speaker, Sana Saeed

Sana Saeed is the Congregational Life Staff for the Central East Region of the UUA since July. She has worked for the UU Ministers Association (UUMA) and was the former President of Diverse Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM). She's a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. She loves her puppy Rumi and currently resides in the suburbs right outside of Philadelphia.

Join Zoom Meeting Sunday at 10:30am

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89150482747

Meeting ID: 891 5048 2747

Password: chalice

Or, follow the link on our webpage for audio only: uucfm.org

This service brought to you by:

Sana Saeed, Guest Speaker

Suellen Kipp, Director of Music

Allie Carville, Worship Associate

Peter Golbitz, Musician

Walter Peterson, Lead Tech

Lesley Peterson, Tech Team Member

Mark Brandon, Tech Team Member

Holley Rauen, Tech Team Member

August Sharing

Literacy Council Gulf Coast (LCGC) has provided literacy services for students across SW Florida for more than 30 years. We strive to create a welcoming environment that encourages learning, while working with each individual to help them reach their objectives through our numerous programs. These programs encompass multiple classes and include both group and individual tutoring opportunities.

A Note About Community Sharing Donations

Thank you so much to all of you who are writing checks and sending paypal donations to us for our Community Sharing partners each month! Please be aware that all funds collected in a certain month go to one designated Sharing Partner. (We do have a one week grace period before we send the big UUCFM check to the partner each month.) Please try to make your donations to the Sharing Partner of the month. We appreciate getting donations for our other partners, but the bookkeeping is set up so that all monies collected that month go to the partner of the month. We've been receiving lots of donations to different charities other than our partner of the month. Thank you!

From the Board

The Board of Trustees would like to thank the following people for their ongoing valuable contributions to UUCFM:

Jennifer Grant- for expertly facilitating two Board Retreats for the Board of Trustees. She did a splendid job, and the Board members have become a mutual admiration society, determined to work well and hard for the congregation.

Helen Dixon- for providing trustworthy office and banking work every week!

The Transition Team, including Karen J. Brown, Lane Cook, Karen Feinen, Roy Green, Bill Petrarca, and Patricia Vivier-Naidl - for continuing to research and realign recommendations and policies to guide this UUCFM transition.

We are sailing through turbulent waters, and it is comforting and inspiring that we have such excellent members to help navigate these storms. Thank you so much!

UUCFM Members and Friends,

We want YOU to submit your thoughts, memories, and words of wisdom from your time in the military serving your country. Or, you might speak about one of your favorite veterans in your family. You can shoot the video from your phone and submit to the church office at [email protected]. The fabulous UUCFM Tech Team will be creating a tribute to our veterans for a November service.

Please submit your Veteran Videos from now up and until October 15th.

Please title your email video submission "Veteran Video" to help us keep track of all submissions.

Thank you for your help!

Suellen Kipp

Director of Music

UUCFM Online Classes & Groups

New Writer's Group!

An informal Writer's Group will take place on Zoom every Friday at 1:00 PM. If you are a new diarist/journaler, newsletter columnist, fiction/non-fiction, or poetry writer, this group is for you! We will read a sample of our writing each week, offer positive reinforcement, and participate in a short writing exercise. To sign up, contact Jill Carville at [email protected].

Caloosahatchee Mindfulness

The book group is starting White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism.

“A valuable guide . . . While especially helpful for those new to the critical analysis of whiteness, this work also offers a useful refresher to anyone committed to the ongoing process of self-assessment and anti-oppression work.”

—Library Journal

We are now meeting on Wednesday from 1-2:30 p.m. on Zoom (of course). For more information and to join, contact Helen Leddy at [email protected].

The UUCFM Book Club

The UUCFM Wednesday Book Group will be discussing Part Two (Chapters 6, 7 & 8) of Jacob Soboroff’s book, Separated: Inside an American Tragedy. We meet on Zoom Wednesdays at 1:00 PM. If you’re joining for the first time, please email Mary Studer at [email protected] and she will send you the link to Zoom.

Social Justice

South Fort Myers Food Pantry

The board and volunteers at the Food Pantry say thank you for the food that you have dropped off during these very difficult months.

The best times to drop off food are 9 AM or 4 PM on Monday at the pantry itself, located at 8260 Cypress Lake Drive, Fort Myers in the back of the Cypress Lake Presbyterian Church. Any size donation will be accepted. Most needed foods are peanut butter & jelly, cereal, breakfast bars, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta and tomato sauce, protein-rich soups and beans. Please, no glass containers.

Caring Network

If you or another member of the Congregation needs some extra attention during this time, your Pastoral Care Committee is here to help as much as we can while keeping us all safe and protected. Our Committee members include Mary Faegre, Joan Hickok, Mary Tracy-Sigman, Patricia Vivier-Naidl, Holley Rauen and Suzanne Ziemer.

If any members of the Congregation are available to help during this crisis, please contact Mary Golbitz.

We can connect with you individually by phone if you are feeling isolated and offer other assistance. Please contact Mary Golbitz for information or assistance at [email protected] 207 479-4082 (phone or text) or Holley Rauen at [email protected] or 239 464-6556.

New Member Spotlight- Mary Studer!

After years in marketing and supply chain management in Chicago, I began teaching marketing and management in southwestern Michigan and Notre Dame, Indiana. I wintered in the Everglades for eleven years before moving full time to Fort Myers in 2013. I’ve always been an avid reader (mostly non-fiction) and since the onset of the pandemic, I’ve lapsed back into my addiction to genealogy.

Several years ago, I became a member of the UUCFM’s Monday evening mindfulness sangha as one of its leaders and eventually joined the Wednesday book club. It became apparent that, since I was already involved with the community, I should become a member!

Lee County Presidential Voting Deadlines

All the information you need to know about voting in Lee County can be found on the Lee County Elections site: https://lee.electionsfl.org/. Phone: 239-533-8683. You may vote in person or by mail. If you choose to receive a ballot and vote by mail, plan to do so early to ensure that your ballot is submitted and received on-time.

REGISTRATION

The deadline to register for the Nov. 3, 2020, General Election is Monday, Oct. 5, 2020.

Florida’s Online Voter Registration website is a convenient and secure way for you to submit your Voter Registration Application. You must have a Florida Driver's License or Florida ID card to use OVR.

MAIL-IN BALLOTS

Vote-by-mail ballot requests must be received by Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, by 5:00 p.m.

Vote-by-Mail ballots are initially mailed approximately 35 days before an election. Mark your selections and return the ballot as soon as possible withing this period.

If you plan to return your ballot in the mail, please do so no later than Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. A Vote-by-Mail ballot received after 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2020, is ineligible to be counted.

Mail-in ballots can be hand-delivered to any branch office location no later than 3:00 pm on Election Day.

During Early Voting, you may drop off your ballot at an authorized, secure drop-box located at each Early Voting Location.

MAIL FORWARDING

If your mail is being forwarded to another address during the voting period, your Vote-by-Mail ballot will be returned to the Lee County Elections office. To have a Vote-by-Mail ballot mailed to another address, the request must be made in writing and signed by the elector. The signed requests can be made by mail, e-mail, fax, in person at any one of our branch office locations, or by using the web form on-line.

EARLY IN-PERSON VOTING

To find early voting locations go to https://lee.electionsfl.org/. Early voting will occur Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, to Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020, from 10 am to 6 pm.

GENERAL ELECTION

On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, all polling locations in Lee County will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. To find your polling location on-line: https://lee.electionsfl.org/Election-Information/Precincts-and-Polling-Places.

By Joy F. Sokeitous