If you wish more information about the Social Action Committee of First Parish Plymouth, please contact:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Social Action
The Social Action Committee at First Parish strives to fight for social justice on a local, state, and national level and endeavors to provide truthful information on a wide variety of relevant issues. We regularly publicize social justice-oriented opportunities that encourage church members, friends, and the local community to become actively involved and put Unitarian Universalist values into practice.
Communication
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Critical to the success of our Social Action is good communication among all people within our community and with all “stakeholders” including our local, state, and federal leaders. Examples of our communication efforts are provided below.
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We, as Unitarian Universalists, are called to halt practices that fuel warming/climate change and to instigate sustainable alternatives. Our Social Action efforts are based on the realization that we must begin at the local community level as well as exert pressure on our state and local governments.
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Climate Action
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Democracy in Action
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Unitarian Universalists recognize the longstanding and ongoing challenges of ensuring a healthy, multiracial, inclusive democracy in the U.S. Actions such as eliminating voter suppression and restoring voter rights are essential. One path is to encourage all people who are registered to vote, to do so.
Beginning in August 2024, the Social Action Committee created a working group, Democracy in Action, to address the need to encourage all US citizens to vote in the November 2024 election. We wrote postcards to voters in the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Virginia. The postcard writing activity is continuing: for example, with the Environmental Voter Project, we are targeting Pennsylvania voters who have a critical election this year (2025). We continuously identify MA legislation that is being considered and is in legislative committees and write letters to the Committee Chairs in support of the legislation including real life examples as to why the laws must be passed. |
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Our objectives for the Community Outreach are to provide whatever is needed by people in Plymouth who are living in poverty and cannot afford to meet basic needs. We are contributing monthly to the South Shore Community Action Council Back Pack Program to provide food for children who do not have enough to eat. We are working with the Hedge School to provide winter clothes and holiday gifts. We have been collecting winter clothing for the Plymouth Recovery Center. We sponsor periodic diaper drives for the young immigrant/refugee families living in Plymouth and Kingston and we regularly volunteer to support the winter nightly meals for the homeless in Plymouth.
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Community Outreach
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Other Social Issues
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We have begun reaching out to other organizations within the area to address our priorities for action. For example: No Place for Hate: met with representatives to discuss ways that we can work together and publicize information; Grandmothers Against Gun Violence: a representative provided a Sunday Service at First Parish; and Mass Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence: we recently became members of this organization. For a list of National and Local Organizations for Social Action and Justice For a list of LGBTQ+ Organizations |