Several things...

Health Care Reform Discussion: There will be a special two-Sundays only discussion on Health Care Reform and the church’s theological position of “caring for the least of these” in context of looking at hard facts and details of the state of our current health care system and what it’ll take to change things for the better. This discussion will be Sundays, July 26 and August 2 in Room 204 from 10-10:50 and is open to ALL interested. If interested, please e-mail me as there is some reading for you to do in advance.

Love Inc: Just called me this morning and they have someone who needs help moving on Monday, August 3. I know this isn’t a very convenient time for most everyone, BUT if you’re available to help this person, please call the Love Inc office directly: 468-6300 for more information or to volunteer.

Free books: There are many free books in the Church Office from New Testaments to full Bibles to Prayer Guide study books (0ver 20 of these) to books on Leadership. These books are located on the bottom two shelves of the book case in the main office. Please help yourself! Perhaps you might even consider doing a study with some of them.

Soup Kitchen: The Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen is nearing completion. Look for it to open within the month. Once an exact date is pin pointed, there will be a need to begin filling up all the volunteer worker slots. If you are retired or have a day-off during the week, please consider lending a day a month to the Soup Kitchen. Saturday’s will also be available.

Parenting Class & Tutoring: The tutoring program will once again be held this year, but with an addition. In conjunction with the Monday night tutoring session, there will be a meal served at 6 p.m. for parents/guardians and their students. Following the meal parents will participate in a Parenting Class / Support Group while the kids go to tutoring. The entire evening will run from 6 – 8 p.m. for everyone. We’ll begin on August 24. What can you do to help?

• Meal Coordinator?? Don’t have to be there on Monday’s, but will be in charge of all organization of the meals….
• Help with meals – prepare food in advance or volunteer to be in the kitchen
• Help with the Parenting Class – serve as a facilitator….just be there to help young families in need of parenting skills….
• Be a tutor!! Work with the kids and their homework…
• If you can’t provide your Presence to any of the above, Gifts are also welcomed to help support this new initiative with a twist from last year.

Back-to-School Assistance Request: I am aware of two teens needing some back-to-school help with clothes, shoes and supplies. If you could help one of these young teens with both of their needs (clothes and supplies) or just one, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with them.

Summer Youth Groups: The Youth Schedule for the rest of the summer is getting a bit precarious. Here is where things stand. If you have thoughts, please let me know:

• This Sunday, July 19 @ Kohne’s
• Sunday, July 26 – Free Sunday….anyone have suggestions?? Want to host a pool party???
• Sunday, August 2 – Need a host family…The Hubers were originally scheduled, but they won’t be able to host the Youth Groups that evening…
• Sunday, August 9 – Clarinda on Vacation (parents welcome to bring forth ideas to keep consistency…)
• Sunday, August 16 – Clarinda on Vacation
• Sunday, August 23 – begin new school-year schedule

Coming Up:

Sunday, August 2 – (see above….location: TBA) 6:30-7:30 p.m. a meeting with parents and youth to go over, schedule and plan the entire 2009-2010 Youth Calendar (September – May). Please bring your ideas and there will be PLENTY of times for volunteers (from teaching on occasion to leading in games and planning special outings)

In September there will be a full slate of class offerings for youth: including Confirmation, Surviving Middle School, an overview of World Religions and Human Sexuality. These will be classes with specific times and youth will register. They will be open for those in grades 6-12 who want a learning/discussion time. Youth Group will have a regular bible-based class to it. With the exception of Confirmation, these classes will function outside of the regular Youth Group genre, be short-term (6-8 weeks) and most likely meet at Clarinda’s house OR an alternative location in the community somewhere.

IF there is a high enough registration for the Human Sexuality class to begin in September, an orientation/information session will be held for parents on Thursday, August 20 @ 6 p.m. so please pencil this into your calendar if you’ll be interested.

Stay tuned to your August Newsletter (will send via e-mail too)…

Daniels: summer program to hire 2,000 young adults

Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps Facts

• The Department of Natural Resources expects to restore up to 2,600 acres of natural habitat areas, build up to 110 miles of new trails, rehabilitate over 1,100 miles of existing trails and restore about 40 structures. The work will take place at about 100 DNR sites, including state parks, reservoirs, recreation areas, state forests, nature preserves, and state historic sites.
• About 2,000 young adults will be hired at a salary of $8.50 per hour for 16 weeks between May 1 and September 30. Those hired will be 16 to 24 years old and have family income at or below the poverty level. The state will seek veterans and those currently receiving unemployment benefits.
• Job applications are being accepted by the Department of Workforce Development online at www.in.gov/yhcc
• Training will include basic construction, historic preservation, and greenway development skills.
• Indiana will receive about $24 million in stimulus funds and will use it to hire workers this summer. Should the program prove successful, remaining funds will be used to renew it next summer.

Project examples

• Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve (Lake County): Habitat restoration and invasive plant species removal on 120 acres.
• Potato Creek State Park (St. Joseph County): New trail construction and major trail rehabilitation.
• Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve/Limberlost State Historic Site (Adams, Jay counties): continued restoration of historic Limberlost wetland habitat.
• J. Edgar Roush Lake (Huntington, Wells counties): removal of shrubs, trees and restoration of wildlife openings to maintain wildlife diversity.
• O’Bannon Woods State Park (Harrison County): control and eradication of harmful invasive vegetation.
• Deam Lake State Recreation Area (Clark County): Construction of new six-mile horse trail loop.
• Patoka Lake (Crawford, Dubois, Orange counties): Re-construction and restoration of historic log cabin.
• Knobstone Trail (Clark, Scott, Washington counties): New construction and major rehab of Indiana’s longest hiking trail.
• Turkey Run State Park (Parke County): Rehabilitation of historic Leiber Memorial.
• Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site (Noble County): Repair and maintenance of historic GSP home.
• Mississinewa Lake (Miami, Wabash counties): Repair work on historic Frances Slocum shelter.
• Pokagon State Park (Steuben County): Preparing Trine State Recreation Area to open to the public (Trine would be the newest state recreation area).

Click here for a map of Indiana DNR properties that will be part of the Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps program.

Click here for audio from the announcement.

Game Night - CANCELLED!

****THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED****

Next Sunday (May 3) is a scheduled Game Night for those in Middle and Senior High. These evenings have traditionally been 6-9 p.m. this school year, although it’s open to those “doing it.” I will be away for the weekend and so for this to happens there needs to be people step-up to lead and plan the evening. If you are interested, please e-mail me. THANK YOU! Let me know by Wednesday evening. Otherwise, I will call the evening off.

Hope for the Homeless Dinner and Silent Auction

The Hope House will have its 6^th Annual Fundraiser on Tuesday, May 12 at Park Chapel Christian Church (1176 E. McKenzie Rd.) in Greenfield. Tickets are available for purchase at $40/per plate or $320/table of 8.

The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with a catered meal by Ty Hunt Catering and music of Renee Wu. A silent auction will simultaneously be held and the keynote speaker of the evening will be Tim Brown. Mr. Brown is a former Philadelphia Eagles Running Back and a graduate of Morton Memorial High School (Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Children’s Home) in Knightstown.

Some of the items for the silent auction include: autographed Colts items (including actual game cleats worn by Gary Brackett), a year’s membership to the Hancock Wellness Center, queen-size hand-crafted quilt (beautiful!), earrings from Reis-Nichols valuing at $400 and many other items and gift baskets.

Hope House serves the counties of: Hancock, Rush and Shelby by: providing short-term housing to homeless families and individuals; providing training through “Life Leads” program to teach adults essential life-skills; providing “Breaking the Cycle” education to end alcohol and drug abuse; providing the community with low-coast thrift clothing and household items through the WEARhouse Thrift Store; allowing individuals in the three county area to build ownership in the Hope House mission through a volunteer program.

As a Board member, I have tickets to sale for this event and I NEED TO SALE THEM! Please consider this opportunity and contact me if interested.

Troy Davis' Bid For a New Trial

As a denomination firmly against the death penalty, please consider this from Amnesty International:

It's not the end of the road for Troy Davis, but the news is not good.

On Friday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Troy Davis' bid for a new trial. In a 2-1 vote, the court cited technical reasons to reject Davis' petition for a hearing.

But all hope is not lost. Troy has 30 days to file another petition with the US Supreme Court.

Troy and his lawyers are doing everything they can to fight this decision from the inside. It is up to us to turn up the pressure on the outside. Even if you've taken action before, keep flooding Governor Perdue's office with emails demanding justice for Troy.

And pass the action on to everyone you know. There is power in numbers and when you stand behind Troy Davis, you make the fight for justice even stronger!

We can't thank you enough.

In solidarity,
Sue, Brian, Jessie, and the rest of the Death Penalty Campaign team

P.S. Save the date — National Day of Solidarity for Troy Davis coming in May. We'll be in touch soon to let you know how you can support Troy in your own community!