When you received your magic envelope on Celebration Sunday,
what did you decide to do with the money?
What way did you choose to bless the world?
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On Celebration Sunday at UUSM, we handed out magic envelopes, each of which contained an amount of money. We talked about how money can be magic: it can be used to make the world a better place. You were asked to do something great to bless the world with yours. This blog is meant to be a place where you can share how you used your magic envelope money. Let's celebrate all the various ways we are able to bless the world with our gifts!
Choose to Bless the World by Rebecca Parker
Your gifts - whatever you discover them to be -
Can be used to bless or curse the world.
The mind's power,
The strength of the hands,
The reaches of the heart,
The gift of speaking, listening, imagining, seeing,
Waiting
Any of these can serve to feed the hungry,
Bind up wounds,
Welcome the stranger,
Praise what is sacred,
Do the work of justice
Or offer love.
Any of these can draw down the prison door,
Hoard bread,
Abandon the poor,
Obscure what is holy,
Comply with injustice
Or withhold love.
You must answer this question:
What will you do with your gifts?
Choose to bless the world.
The choice to bless the world
Can take you into solitude
To search for the sources
Of power and grace;
Native wisdom, healing and liberation.
More, the choice will draw you into community,
The endeavor shared,
The heritage passed on,
The companionship of struggle,
The importance of keeping faith,
The life of ritual and praise,
The comfort of human friendship,
The company of earth,
Its chorus of life
Welcoming you.
None of us alone can save the world.
Together -- that is another possibility,
Waiting.
Can be used to bless or curse the world.
The mind's power,
The strength of the hands,
The reaches of the heart,
The gift of speaking, listening, imagining, seeing,
Waiting
Any of these can serve to feed the hungry,
Bind up wounds,
Welcome the stranger,
Praise what is sacred,
Do the work of justice
Or offer love.
Any of these can draw down the prison door,
Hoard bread,
Abandon the poor,
Obscure what is holy,
Comply with injustice
Or withhold love.
You must answer this question:
What will you do with your gifts?
Choose to bless the world.
The choice to bless the world
Can take you into solitude
To search for the sources
Of power and grace;
Native wisdom, healing and liberation.
More, the choice will draw you into community,
The endeavor shared,
The heritage passed on,
The companionship of struggle,
The importance of keeping faith,
The life of ritual and praise,
The comfort of human friendship,
The company of earth,
Its chorus of life
Welcoming you.
None of us alone can save the world.
Together -- that is another possibility,
Waiting.
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We added $30 to our Bless the World $15 and sent it to Peninsula Interfaith Action. PIA blesses our community every day with its multifaith, multicultural connections and actions. The many PICO affiliates across the nation bless our county as their connections and actions ripple their way to Washington, D.C. Thanks to UUSM for providing the opportunity to provide this small but very heartfelt blessing.
ReplyDeleteCaryl and Gordon Hughan
Gemma is going to bake cookies and cupcakes from ingredients we already have, use her $5 to buy lemonade mix, sell the goodies at her school this week, and give the money to her school which is facing severe cutbacks to all its programs. YAY!
ReplyDeleteI would like to use my $40 as seed money to start a Kiva Investment Club at UUSM. Club members would pool our magic envelope money to make micro-loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world, using Kiva.org. Then we would each add to our Investment Club funds with $5 or $10 a month over the coming year -- and watch the good grow and grow!
ReplyDeleteAnyone care to join me?? Christy Conklin
The Leschyn family pooled our gifts and added to them to create a new Kiva account that Aleksy, Erek and Wade will manage. Debby already had her own Kiva account, so this will turn Kiva into a full family affair! We and Debby joined the larger UU investment group, for the purpose of linking accounts in order to show the impact of UU's on the world, it seems to make sense to go with the national group.
ReplyDeleteSarah and I pooled our money ($15 total) and donated it to the Pacifica Education Foundation, which is raising funds to even out inequities in fundraising in the district by raising money for district-wide projects.
ReplyDeleteI received $40. I added another $40 and donated it to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Preservation Fund.
ReplyDeleteMcKenzie took her $20 and I matched her with $30. We funded 2 Kiva loans to women in Africa. We have had an existing Kiva account for 2 years and have made numerous loans, with 100% repayment rate.
ReplyDeleteI matched my $15 and sent $30 to the UU Legislative Ministry California. I have been a supporter in the past and I appreciate the work they are doing to promote justice in an otherwise crazy world.
ReplyDeleteI added extra money to the $5.00 we were given and became an educational partner to an elementary school student in our partner church in Ulay/Cabighuan, Philippines. The amount will help a young person go to school for a full year.
ReplyDeleteI added to my $5 and sent in to charitywater.org, which provides clean drinking water in developing countries. I feel good about it!
ReplyDeleteWayne & I combined our magic money, multiplied it by 5, and sent it to Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation. Rev. Cathy Harrington, a UU minister who lost her daughter to murder in 2004, is on their board. We support the power of nonviolence ("ahimsa") for social transformation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mvfr.org/
David and I added 40$ to the $10 were given by the anonymous UUSM donor and sent this to the Yu Family Foundation. Jin Cheng Yu was killed last Tuesday in Oakland by two men who were "angry at life". The Yu family issues a statement that their "hearts go out to the families of the two young men." And that "True justice is no more violence." We are heartened by their amazing response which makes us feel that good can come out of bad.
ReplyDeleteUpdate: Gemma turned her $5 into $44 by doing a bakesale this morning -- funds will benefit the art, music, and Spanish Immersion programs at her school!
ReplyDeleteChristy Conklin
Jon Carroll in the SF Chronicle has written about the "Untied" way (not to be confused with the United Way).
ReplyDeleteCarroll says, "The Untied Way is not a charity so much as an idea. It gives money directly to people to spend in self-identified need areas. It has no central offices, no fundraisers, no celebrity spokespeople and no guidelines. It has only a plan."
He usually offers this idea around Christmas, suggesting that people take some money out of an ATM. "Then go to an area of your community where you're pretty certain to be asked for money. Every time you are asked for money, give that person a $20 bill. Repeat until the money runs out. It's as simple as that."
I combined the $10 from the magic envelope with some of my own and participated in the Untied Way as I walked the streets of San Francisco, last Friday.
Charles Du Mond
Susan and I pooled our gifts ($10 total) to add to the contribution we'll be making as part of the special collection for BUILD UU Philippines on Partner Church Sunday, May 30. This reliable and stable source of funding is critical to the future of the UU faith in the Philippines. -Carol & Susan
ReplyDeleteI immediately gave my $20 that evening to my book club for our Kiva account. About 1 year ago, after we read and discussed "Three Cups of Tea" my wonderful book club of moms in Pacifica decided to stop meeting in restaurants for our monthly meetings and instead to meet in each other's homes and pool the money we would have spent and open a Kiva account together. So far we have made 31 loans over the last year with 100% repayment rate from the low-income entrepreneurs we have helped around the world. The Sunday of the magic money we made several loans to the Ukraine and eastern Europe in honor of the book we just read - "The Zookeepers Wife" - a true story of a family that saved many Jews in Poland during WWII.
ReplyDeleteTeagan and Noreen put our $10 into the Humane Society collection box at Dolly's Shop in Carlmont Village.
ReplyDeleteGrace Wilson used her $20 to buy 3 reams of paper for her school, which is facing severe budget cuts and just recently told the kids they couldn't print more than 2 pages in the computer lab as they work on research papers because the school is literally out of paper.
ReplyDeleteAnn Mason and Reeba Lynn combined their $15 dollars and added $105 to sponsor an elementary school student in Ulay Cabighuan at our UU Partner Church. We have just been notified that the student we are sponsoring is Jeramae Lopez, a 4th grader. As an education partner we have committed to sponsoring her education through high school. It is very exciting!
ReplyDeleteIt took the Meadow family a little while to decide what to do and it turned out to be for good reason. The boys each used their own money to double their gifts; Jack is donating $20.00 to Saving Haiti's School - a charity club started by the his 3rd grade class - and Will is donating $30.00 to UCDavis Oiled Wildlife Rescue to help with the oil spill. Together, Paul and I increased our $10 tenfold and are sending a Home Depot Card, to folks who lost everything in the Nashville flood. Sometimes waiting is good thing. Thank you for the opportunity to spread some magic.
ReplyDeleteI took the $20 from my magic envelope, multiplied it by 5 and sent it to the Clinton Foundation for Haiti Relief. I think we forget their remains a huge amount of suffering all over the country of Haiti.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the opportunity to pay it forward. Kate Bond
Leah and I added $30 to our gift and chose to give the gift of sight to two Tibetians through Seva Canada, whose mission is to "To restore sight and prevent blindness in the developing world." In Tibet, a cataract operation can be performed for $50 and so we made our gift $100. In some places, the gift of sight can be restored for as little as $25, and Seva also provides screenings to prevent impaired vision in children. Seva (pronounced say-va) is a Sanskrit word for service. http://www.seva.ca/
ReplyDeleteI added some of my cash to my $250 envelope and sent it to Masterworks Chorale who are loosing $35,000 in support from CSM next year due to budget cuts. Many community choirs are closing because of lack of funds. It's important for there to be excellent music available to us locally.
ReplyDelete$50 to Second Harvest so people can eat.
ReplyDeleteVictor Berdoulay
$50 ($20 UUSM) to help patients with Parkinson's.
ReplyDeleteJohn Berdoulay
$50 to my friend Megan's Mission Trip.
ReplyDeleteIsabelle Berdoulay
$50 to help women learn to knit (Rwanda Knits) to provide for their family.
ReplyDeleteChristina Berdoulay
Kathy donated her money to the scholarship fund for the children of Cabiguhan.
ReplyDeleteKathy van Leuwen
Ellie donated her money to the SPCA of San Mateo.
ReplyDeleteEllie Young
Gemma is going to bake cookies and cupcakes from ingredients we already have, use her $5 to buy lemonade mix, sell the goodies at her school this week, and give the money to her school which is facing severe cutbacks to all its programs. YAY!
ReplyDeleteUU fund to support Marriage Equality.
ReplyDeleteIsabelle Watson
$20 went to the church collection.
ReplyDeleteI matched the $10 and gave $20 to UUSM in the collection plate.
ReplyDeleteMatched and gave to for kids foundation.
ReplyDeleteDonation to American Cancer Society to find a "cure for cancer".
ReplyDeleteSam Watson
UUSM new building fund.
ReplyDeleteSteve got $5 and Eleanor got $40, so we combined our magic money and doubled it and gave a contribution to Samaritan House.
ReplyDeleteEleanor Lewis and Steve Davis
A friend started an organization to help one of the Lost Boys of Sudan re-build his village. We donated $40 to the organization to help pay for teachers and supplies for the school.
ReplyDeleteCasey Roepke donated her $5 to UNICEF.
ReplyDeleteA donation was made to Oxfam America to plant a vegetable garden.
ReplyDelete$40 to Partners in Health (PIH).
ReplyDeleteA donation was made to FINCA International (loans to provide start up capital to families).
ReplyDeleteAndrew, Robin and Mary pooled their money and donated to the Children's Hospital of Kaiser, Santa Clara.
ReplyDeleteMy son, Ethan and I pooled the money we received ($50 total) and donated it to the Family Emergency Fund, a fund at Ethan's public school (Ocean Shore School) to help families (who are members of the school community) with urgent needs
ReplyDeleteLaura Bull
I purchased six pairs of socks to be given to homeless street people in San Francisco by the Night Ministry.
ReplyDeleteSpent $10 on food for Food Bank. Special pick up by the Half Moon Bay, Post Office Staff.
ReplyDeleteDonation to provide a scholarship for a child this summer.
ReplyDeleteTeagan Boram and Noreen Ford gave their $10 to the Humane Society.
ReplyDeleteLeah and I pooled our $70 and then added $30 and we donated the gift of sight to two Tibetans through Seva Canada, a non-profit that provides cataract surgery and education throughout the world.
ReplyDeleteAndrea and Leah Rosenfeld
Nichole Colaianni and Colaine Roepke pooled their money and donated it to Pancreatic Cancer Research.
ReplyDelete$100 to Southwest Indian Releif Council, Mesa, Arizona. "Food Emergency" for Navaho elders.
ReplyDeleteJerome Motto
Kyra Roepke donated her $5 to Peninsula Humane Society.
ReplyDeleteMy $100 magic money goes back into UUSM collection basket. I hope UUSM has long time presence in this area, and I feel that, for a couple of years, we must show ourselves we can bring in enough at least to cover our budgets - to show ourselves we are able to afford new digs.
ReplyDeleteRae
Sara and I pooled our money ($15 total) and donated it to the Pacifica Education Foundation, which is raising funds to even out inequities in fundraising in the district by raising monehy for district-wide projects.
ReplyDeleteI started a Kiva loan, and will put the money back in to the collection plate. We received $15, we added $10 to make a $25 Kiva loan, and will put the $15 back in the collection plate.
ReplyDeleteWe added some money and gave $50 to Kiva for a coop to expand their grocery store. And $50 to a coop for education that provides books and computers to schools in Guatemala but in a self-sustaining "trust" manner.
ReplyDeleteThe Stephens Family
Our combined contribution was $15, given to Home and Hope.
ReplyDeleteI am giving my 10 dollars to my uncle Paul to help him study and protect reptiles and amphibians.
ReplyDelete