UUSC Recognizes Exceptional Human-Rights Activists  

UUSC is pleased to recognize the recipients of this year's social-action awards. All recipients have given their time, energy, and talent to advance social justice in cooperation with UUSC. Incredibly appreciative of their support and leadership, UUSC is delighted to present them with these well-deserved awards.

Social Action Leadership Award

Linda McKim-Bell, of First Unitarian Church in Portland, Ore., is the recipient of this year's award. Established in 1977, the award honors creative, inspiring, and effective leadership by an individual or group working for justice in cooperation with UUSC.

A UUSC volunteer since 2007, McKim-Bell has gone above and beyond the call of duty. She has helped develop a four-week adult religious-education curriculum about UUSC's history and work, facilitated a workshop on art therapy for the Pacific Northwest District Assembly using Haitian art, organized events on UUSC's Civil Liberties Program in the Seattle area, and helped disseminate the Gulf Coast video. McKim-Bell also represented UUSC in Combined Federal Campaign workplace philanthropy fairs in her region. Most recently, she helped organize and promote the Building Bridges workshop in Bellevue, Wash.

Continually striving to learn more about UUSC and share it with others, McKim-Bell has gone on several experiential learning trips, including the 2010 Civil Rights Journey. She is incredibly passionate about human rights and has been at the forefront of UUSC's work for years. McKim-Bell continues to be a strong advocate, a consistent supporter, and a proactive volunteer. She creatively develops opportunities for others to learn more about UUSC's work and successfully forms connections throughout the Pacific Northwest. Dick Campbell, UUSC's senior associate for media and public affairs, says, "There is no question that Linda is one of the most effective advocates and activists we have ever had. She is always looking for new ways to help us advance our mission."

Mary-Ella Holst Youth Activist Award

This year we are pleased to issue this award, which honors the achievements of an individual or group of youth who advance human rights and social justice through activism and leadership in collaboration with UUSC, to two deserving recipients.

The first recipient is Alice Roup of University Unitarian Church, Seattle, Wash.

Roup attended UUSC's Freedom Summer: A Civil Rights Journey in 2010 and was a leader among other youth on the trip. Once back home, she wrote an article about her journey, shared her experience with youth religious-education classes at University Church, and presented a slide show [PDF] and memorabilia to congregation members, proactively raising awareness of UUSC and its work. She also shared her new knowledge at the UUSC Coffee Hour Table and participated in events to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Roup will next join a congregational delegation to El Provenir in Nicaragua, to learn Spanish lessons and help with a community laundry project. Roup, who restarted and is the president of her high school's gay-straight alliance, plans to attend college in Olympia and focus on human-rights work in the state legislature. UUSC Volunteer Regional Coordinator Linda McKim-Bell, shares, "Alice is truly a leader for today and tomorrow. She impressed me with her maturity and insights. I got to know Alice on the Freedom Summer Civil Rights Journey of 2010. I was surprised to find out that she was 16 while she was acting as an adult on the journey."

The second recipient of this award is the religious education group of UU United Fellowship in St. Petersburg, Fla.

While a small contingent — just three children ranging from 9 to 16 years old — this group has impressively taken up the challenge of supporting UUSC projects as their social-action effort.

In 2009, they worked to raise support for the Human Rights Teacher Training in Afghanistan, a collaborative project of UUSC and partner Barakat. The youth prepared a presentation to the congregation, created posters and bowls to raise awareness, and hosted an Afghan lunch where their bowls were sold. They raised over $900! In 2010, they chose to support the Hope in Crops project.  In 2010, they chose to support the Hope in Crops project, a rain-forest-preservation project to stabilize a local watershed in Kenya. They studied Kenya and the rain forest, planned and presented a worship service, and taught people about that UUSC's partnership with the SoilFarm Multi-Culture Group, the people dedicated to protecting the forest. The following week, they prepared a Kenyan lunch and raised over $500. 

The Fellowship congregation was so impressed with their efforts that the board decided to sponsor UUSC memberships for these three youth. Kate Wallace, UUSC's program assistant for member development, shares, "I have been so inspired by all the hard work these young people have put into raising support for human rights! Their work is a model that I have been glad to share with other congregations around the country, and I look forward to hearing about their continuing efforts."

Social Justice Congregation Award

Established in 2010, this award recognizes an exemplary congregation for its institutional efforts to advance human rights work in collaboration with UUSC. The recipient this year is East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, Wash.

East Shore Unitarian Church has been very supportive of and active and participatory in UUSC's work. The ministers, the Peace Team, and the UUSC local representative have been highly successful in several areas of cooperative work for human rights.

In addition to a very well-established annual Guest at Your Table program, East Shore Unitarian Church includes UUSC in several of its social-justice initiatives. In the past year alone, the congregation has hosted a number of UUSC events, including a presentation to the women's group about UUSC's work for women's rights, activities to support the work of UUSC partner Barakat, a guest sermon and presentation by Bill Schulz, a Pacific Northwest regional UUSC volunteer meeting, and a Building Bridges workshop.

The Building Bridges workshop was the culmination of an initiative begun nearly two years ago, working collaboratively with UU and other interfaith groups, and reaching out to UUSC volunteers statewide to collaborate on the effort. Highly successful, it generated a great deal of visibility and better mutual understanding of key issues for Muslim and Arab Americans in the community.

East Shore has also consistently provided strong financial support for UUSC's human-rights programs. In the past year alone, total congregational giving to UUSC has reached over $20,000. The congregation has responded generously to specific needs, such as Haiti Earthquake Relief and Pakistan Flood Relief, while also giving generously to UUSC's general fund, which is critical to our UUSC's ability to support our work wherever the need is greatest.

Outstanding Local Representatives

In addition to these awards, UUSC recognizes members of UUSC's National Volunteer Network who have done an exemplary job in increasing awareness, building UUSC membership, growing financial support, and organizing UUSC events at the congregational level. The Outstanding Local Representative Awards for 2011 recognize Jim Landfried and Mary Jean Ewing.

Jim Landfried of The First Church in Belmont, Mass., has been a local rep. since 2007. Driven by that work and his role as First Church historian, Landfried initiated plans to commemorate the 70th anniversary of UUSC's founding, inspired by the roles that First Church members played in the history. His efforts culminated in a well-attended premiere of a rough-cut film about UUSC founders Waitstill and Martha Sharp, two worship services, and a presentation and discussion about UUSC's early history. Landfried exhibited excellent communication and collaboration with UUSC staff and his congregation's lay and ministerial leadership. Landfried also presented a workshop for other UUSC volunteers on developing collaborative working relationships with congregational leaders.

Landfried continues to facilitate an annual Guest at Your Table program integrated with religious education and has formed strong connections with the social-action committee. He has also advocated for UUSC to be the recipient of proceeds from a longstanding and well-known benefit concert. In addition, Landfried volunteers in the office on a regular basis. Lauralyn Smith, UUSC's senior associate for member development, says, "Jim has been an avid and consistent supporter of UUSC for years, and succeeds in his efforts thanks to his deep ties in the community, passion for UU history and social justice, and his creative and collaborative nature."

Mary Jean Ewing of the UU Church of Boulder, Colo., has been a local rep. since December 2008, during which time she has significantly increased annual participation in Guest at Your Table at her congregation. The percentage of UUSC members in the congregation also increased — while the congregation was growing, which is even more impressive and shows that she has done a great job of including newcomers when raising awareness of our work.

Ewing facilitated a very successful UUSC event for water justice this spring, hosting and arranging a dinner, facilitating worship and workshop logistics, and coordinating details of a membership drive. She demonstrates excellent personal initiative by visiting UUSC offices when in Massachusetts, independently maintains strong communication with UUSC (without the additional support of a regional coordinator in her area), and develops a regional presence for UUSC with her networking skills. She has done commendable work that aligns with our goals and exceeds all criteria for recognition as an outstanding local rep. Charlie Huschle, UUSC's senior associate for foundations and corporations, says, "Mary Jean is an energetic and passionate volunteer who is a pleasure to work with."