By Susan Lesh
The Board and Program Council held our rescheduled retreat on March 9. Unfortunately, we could not get out to member Heidi Finkelberg’s home, our usual venue, but we carpooled to the Northern Westchester Ethical Society, which has a cozy atmosphere. The theme this year was on “Engaging Membership in Social Action or Social Justice Activities.”
We talked about activities that we have done in the past, like harboring a refugee from El Salvador in the Society’s meetinghouse, which was illegal at the time. We talked about our current activities, like the monthly letter-writing campaign and our memberships in coalitions. We talked about our dreams for the future, which was a long- term project with every member engaged in the same effort, comprising a variety of activities, perhaps in a Green effort.
As an immediate next step, Joe Chuman is going to be giving an address on the past social action/social service projects that Bergen Ethical has been involved in—a long and proud history. We’re going to video that address and have it available on the website.
We then talked about communication and the need to have open dialogue with Society members and Social Action committee members. We discussed the desire to have a mechanism to allow members to make suggestions. Expect a new look to the Social Action Bulletin board! Where is it? It’s the bulletin board on the righthand side of the main doors, as you exit. Soon you’ll see information about our current projects and how youcan get involved. Starting this month, we have added a Social Action section to our newsletter. To keep up with our Social Action initiatives, please visit https://ethicalfocus.org/category/social-action/
We are an active and engaged group, small but mighty, and we can help change the world. I look forward to working with you as we move into a new future.
Susan Lesh is president of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County.
