Social Action Circle Update, Jerry Buchanan

The Christmas gift celebration is well underway. I hope you have received your email from the office and have gone to your friends, co-workers, and associates in other organizations to expand our ability to honor more kids with gifts this year.

You will be receiving information on the child(ren) to buy for very soon. Please bring the gifts, in a gift bag, to church on or before November 27. That's the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so if you're planning on being away that weekend, be sure to deliver the gifts on November 20.

I will need help in transporting the gifts this year. My new car doesn't have as much cargo space as my older one. The gifts will be delivered on November 29 or 30 in the early afternoon. If you have some spare time and a car and are willing to help, see Jerry.

Two or three years ago, we had a service on the genocide and recovery in Rwanda. Much of the recovery was facilitated by the making and selling "Friendship baskets." We recently found out about a particular school in Rwanda whose students are in dire need of uniforms. Without uniforms, Rwanda's street children can easily be perceived as troublemakers or criminals and be taken to jail while walking to school or searching for food at lunch time. A uniform is literally a safety net for these vulnerable children.

Of course, these children usually can't afford the $12 to buy their own uniforms. Rwanda Partners (at http://rwandapartners.org/uniforms_transform.html) has organized an effort to receive donations for these uniforms. At our last meeting, the members of the Social Action Circle agreed to donate $120 for ten uniforms for this cause. Check out the website and see if you can help more.

As you read this, another fifth Monday has passed. Several of us celebrated the fifth Monday (and Halloween) by preparing and serving a meal at Ascencia, formerly PATH Achieve Glendale. If past results are any indicator, it was a great success and greatly appreciated by those it was prepared for.

Gratitude is what this season is all about. When we have the opportunity to show our gratitude by helping others, that gratitude is magnified. I know I'm grateful for my church and the many wonderful things that happen here.

Jerry Buchanan, Chair, Social Action Circle