Here is a recap of the Spring Membership Meeting, held on May 20:
Committee highlights
- Our Building Committee continues to keep abreast of the aging building attempting to return to Mother Nature.
- Our Membership Committee has added nine new members this year and led the effort to reinstate Community Weekend.
- Our Ethical Education Committee continues to support the teaching of ethics to our young ones and is preparing four graduates this year.
- The Social Action Committee, small but mighty, continues to keep us in the middle of the fight with our monthly letter-writing campaign, protests of gun violence, and battles for the environment and immigrant justice.
- Our Adult Education has many threads, from films, classes, storytelling, conversations in Spanish, senior conversations, to job help.
- The AEU is sponsoring a public relations firm, Momentum, to help get Ethical Culture’s name and good works out to a broader public.
Leader Joe Chuman discussed the lack of egoism in our group, saying that people recognize their own turf and their own limits. The more we put forward our communities, instead of our egos, the more we will attract others like us, he said.
We successfully voted in our slate of nominees for officers, board and standing committee chairs as well as special committee members.
Building Chairman Jim Norman gave a report on the most urgent needs of our building, which include a necessary replacement of the upstairs air-conditioning system, repaving of the parking lot, new carpet, and new chairs. These costly items came after replacement of the heating system in the fall. He noted that we have potential flooding issues in the basement and will eventually need a new roof.
Finance Chairwoman Janet Glass spoke about the newly launched “Keep the Home Fires Burning” capital campaign, which starts with a matching grant of $27,500 (from our Home Fires Angels). We’re hoping to raise in excess of $50,000, which would incorporate all of the most urgent needs listed by Jim.
Susan Lesh, President
