Be a Helper

“TO LOVE IS TO ACT.” ~Victor Hugo

FBC’s Scrogin Great Issues Book Group, Social Justice Action Team, and Outreach Team invite you
to act to help address today’s societal issues. These include, but are not limited to: promoting racial justice, supporting migrants, aiding those homeless, providing food security, advocating for LGBTQ+ individuals’ rights, pushing for gun laws, and protecting the environment.

Posts will change monthly with issues, current needs, resources, and events.

CRITICAL NEED TO CALL ELECTED OFFICIALS

There are many important issues for making calls to protest. Here are a few:

1. ILLEGAL MIGRANT DEPORTATIONS: Susan Rodgers reports “A federal judge has ordered a pause for forced migrations of Venezuelan asylum seekers in the Chicago area (their Temporary Protected Status -TPS- has been revoked by the Trump administration). Administration is ignoring the court order so far. Court cases proceed for Haitian asylum seekers, since their TPS protections will also be removed the first week of August 2025. Deportation landscape is chaotic.”
2. CUTTING OF MEDICAL RESEARCH BY 57%: Medical research is essential for all of us. Whether now or later, all of us will experience the crucial need for medical improvements through dedicated research, which is now being decimated.
3. ELIMINATION OF DEI (DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION)
This is creating the dehumanizing of LGBTQ+, women, people of color, and those who have disabilities, removing their stature, history and fair access to opportunity.

Resources on issues and contact info on your legislators:

• 5calls.org – Find your federal officials, their votes, background on issues, suggested text for calls.
• Discover your specific federal, state and local officials with their contact info at: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
• Be specific about why you are calling.
• Call every day about a different issue each time.

PROVIDE FOOD: Prepare/Serve and/or Donate

• Mustard Seed: cook/serve dinner last Tuesday of month for those homeless and/or hungry.
• FBC’s food pantry on right as you turn into parking lot.
• Woo Fridges: https://www.woofridge.org
• Buy Hope for Housing cards to food stores on Sundays in Gordon Hall and give to Outreach Team to distribute.
• Worcester County Food Bank: https://foodbank.org

DONATE CLOTHING

• Clothes for Homeless Outreach Advocacy Project (HOAP)
which enables those without homes to get a hot shower and then have clean clothes to put on.
• Clothes, diapers, wet wipes for Haitian asylum seekers. Donation days are held twice each month needing volunteers.
Bins are in Narthex and Office.
• Join knitting group at FBC on Wednesdays 1-3pm to knit scarves, hats, etc. for shelters to distribute. They can teach you to knit!

WRITE NOTES

• Take a pre-addressed postcard below to write an FBC member who’s not able to come to church or who is experiencing a difficult time.
• Use a postcard below to write a community organization to express appreciation or to make a suggestion.

SHOW UP

• Go to City Council and/or School Committee meetings, learn what’s happening, and speak up as needed.
• Plan to join FBC outing to an immigrant-refugee owned restaurant. Next one on Sunday, May 4th, 2025 after the morning service.

EXPERIENCING ANXIETY TO CALL LEGISLATORS?

Here’s step-by-step help from blog Echo Through the Fog:

1. Block off time on your calendar. Each call only takes a minute or so, but you might want to block off more time for your first call, so you can prepare your words & nerves. Don’t rush yourself! Scheduling is super important, otherwise you will perpetually delay calling.
2. At the scheduled time, go sit somewhere quiet.
3. Find out who represents you.
4. Write out exactly what you plan to say. It only needs to be a few lines, and there are lots of templates online that you can use. e.g. “Hello! I am constituent from city (zip code) and I am calling to urge Some Name to publicly…” If they have already released a statement, don’t use that as an excuse to avoid calling. I know it’s hard, but call anyway. Thank them and ask them to keep pushing.
5. Take a deep breath. You can do this.
6. Do this: dial. (This is the hardest part.)
7. Read from your script. At this point, you’ll likely be sent to voicemail or to an actual person. The person will most likely be friendly and probably won’t have much time to talk, so you shouldn’t have to deviate much from your script. It’s a quick conversation.
8. That’s it! Say “Thank you” and hang up. You did it! if You’re thinking, “Hey, that wasn’t so bad…”, call more people! And follow up with them next week, or even tomorrow, to make sure they keep these issues top of mind.

INFO FROM PROJECT BREAD
Can’t afford enough food? Let’s chat.
CALL: 1 (800) 645-8333

Hotline Hours Mon-Fri: 8am-7pm Sat: 10am-2pm
No matter what you’re going through, we understand that food is a must. We want to help you. PROJECT BREAD can connect you to programs that will help you afford groceries and put food on the table. Always free & confidential for all Massachusetts residents, our counselors are ready to assist callers in 180 languages.

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
SNAP is a federal nutrition program that provides monthly financial assistance for groceries. Could you be eligible? Find out today and get help applying.

Free Summer Meals for Kids & Teens
Summer Eats provides free meals to all kids and teens ages 18 and under at hundreds of locations across Massachusetts during the summer months. No registration or ID is required. Call to find meals near you!

Food Pantries If you need food right now, we can direct you to emergency food programs near you, including food pantries and meal programs.

Referrals to Additional Resources
We can help you find additional support, including referrals to WIC (a federal nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children), housing, and utility assistance.

Call today or learn more at projectbread.org/gethelp

Friendly House, Inc. – “The mission of Friendly House is to further the educational, social, individual and family development of residents of Worcester, Massachusetts. Our focus is on helping the entire family, especially those under-served and under-resourced. 36 Wall Street, Worcester, MA 01604; https://www.friendlyhousema.org

Abby’s House – “Our mission is to provide shelter & affordable housing, as well as advocacy and support services, to homeless, battered, & low-income women, with or without children.” 52 High Street, Worcester, MA 01609; https://abbyshouse.org

Project Bread – “Project Bread is committed to making sure that people in Massachusetts can afford enough to eat because hunger is an injustice…Project Bread connects people and communities in Massachusetts to reliable sources of food while advocating for policies that make food more accessible—so that no one goes hungry.” 145 Border Street, East Boston, MA 02128; https://projectbread.org

First Baptist Church – for its Outreach ministries

Make a statement through closing your wallet to large corporations (such as Home Depot, Chick Fil A, Walmart, Amazon and more to come) who are shutting down DEI initiatives. (www.thepeoplesunionusa.com).

• 40 day Lenten Fast March 5 – April 17, 2025: Refrain from buying products at Target (Targetfast.org)
• April 7-14, 2025 – Walmart boycott
• April 18, 2025 – Economic Blackout at all large corporations; refrain from spending any money online or in stores.
• April 21-28, 2025 – General Mills boycott

Learning from the Biblical story of Queen Esther:

Rev. Katherine recently preached regarding the story of Esther in the Bible, who despite being very afraid, bravely put herself on the line to stand up for what was right and to save the Jewish people from the tyrant Haman who sought to destroy them. Rev. Katherine gave us an acronym from Esther’s name to remind us of what we can do.

E = Enlist your community’s help. The first tool of disempowerment is isolation, so refuse to be isolated. When you are scared, tell your friends, your pastors, your congregation, and let us lean on each other.

S = Seek a spiritual practice. Join a yoga class, join our Lenten bible study on Thursdays at 6, join a church team – whatever helps ground you. Pray to the author of love for the strength and grace to resist the powers that would divide us from our siblings.

T =Talk about it. Get loud. Write letters to the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram. Use a tool like 5Calls.org or ResistBot to reach out to legislators when you don’t know whom to address or what to say. Make conversations uncomfortable by talking to your neighbors about politics. A lot of good, generous people put this administration in power because they hoped for positive change, and I firmly believe that this is not what they wanted. And if you want to get extra uncomfortable and add religion into the mix, tell them the story of Esther.

H = Have a moment. Whatever feelings you are feeling in this moment – wrath, despair, numbness, sadness, hostility, schadenfreude, fear, disgust, even hope – give yourself permission to feel them! Esther certainly did. If you don’t want to get bogged down because you have things to do, set a timer and give yourself ten, fifteen, twenty minutes to cry or rage or whatever, and then get back to work, perhaps doing:

E = Extend a hand. Periodically check the Be a Helper board at coffee hour, or talk to the folks who lead our social justice efforts, to find out how you can be a companion to the people being most affected by this violence of policy and rhetoric. And finally,

R = Rest and realize joy. The Hamans of the world thrive on fear, on overwhelming us to the point of apathy. So put on your royal robes, whether that’s flowers or time with kids or a trashy novel, and resist fear by exercising the joy and rest that God wants for all of us. We were made for joy: that we might have life, and have it abundantly.