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Friday Email - 2 MAY 2014

We Welcome Musician Eric Dyke to Sunday Worship
Spring Congregational Meeting - May 4
OutRaleigh! Volunteers Needed, Saturday, May 3rd
Providing Food and More (Food Bags Due this Sunday)
A Note from Linda Baker (Who Graciously Delivers the Food Bags)
Forum, Sunday, May 2, 9:15am – VFH
Dedication of Bricks – Loaves and Fishes Gratitude Garden
BYC Summer Camp Registration Due Sunday, May 4
New Phone Number for Anne Pope
Tuesday Evening Taizé Worship – May 6, 2014, 7:00pm
Church-Wide Outdoor Event! – May 9 – 10
Pray at the Legislature – Tuesdays, 12:30pm-1:00pm
Community Corrections and Re-entry Task Force Meeting
Affordable Housing Task Force
Wake Federation of the Blind Yard Sale
Retirees’ Group, Monday May 12, 10:30am
Urban Ministries is in need of Volunteers
Apartment in CUCC Area Needed

We Welcome Musician Eric Dyke to Sunday Worship
We welcome Eric Dyke, double bass player with the NC Symphony, to our 10:30am worship service this Sunday.  This will be Eric's second time to play for our Sunday morning worship service.  Welcome back, Eric!

Spring Congregational Meeting - May 4
Our annual Spring Congregational Meeting will be this Sunday, May 4, following the 10:30am worship service. This annual "spring" meeting is required by our bylaws. At regular meetings, the agenda is unrestricted. This means that any proposal on any topic can be presented to the congregation for consideration. However, if you plan to present a topic for discussion, it is helpful if you let the moderator (Lavon Page) know in advance.

OutRaleigh! Volunteers Needed, Saturday, May 3rd
Volunteers are still needed for our CUCC table at Out!Raleigh on Saturday, May 3.  We need help with the 3-5pm shift and to help break down (nothing too strenuous) or anytime you are available.  Please contact the church off at 919-787-6422 if you can help.  Out!Raleigh is a family fun event with lots of activities for children; good food; great music! Even if you can’t stay for long, come by and say “Hi” and see what the ONA Task Force is all about.  Hope to see you Saturday! (ONA)

Providing Food and More (Food Bags Due this Sunday)

"Food insecurity is one of the biggest concerns for those facing poverty, especially during the summer months when children are home from school."  (Urban Ministries)

How many times do you come back from the grocery store with paper towels, soap, or toothpaste in your shopping bags? While these items aren't food, most of us consider them necessary. Urban Ministries is asking us to fill food bags, which we have been doing for years. And now, in addition, Interact, The Women's Center, and PLM Families Together are asking for non-food necessities.

Community Outreach Ministry is looking for some help from you. When you shop for your Urban Ministries food bags, which are due this Sunday, please consider picking up a "bonus" non-food item, too. COM is providing a box next to the food bag drop off area in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall for bonus items. You can also put bonus items in the laundry basket in the fellowship hall that is set up for their collection.  The “bonus” non-food items requested for PLM, Interact, and The Women’s Center are:
Toothpaste                      Toothbrush                      Paper towels
Liquid hand soap             Bar of DOVE soap           Sponges
Dishwashing liquid soap
Below is the list of items for the food bags. Thank you for supporting these great community resources.

                                 
Emergency food bags
The Food Pantry at Urban Ministries will provide one week’s worth of groceries for more than 8,000 families in need, including 9,000 children. Our contributions may seem small, but they are vital and greatly appreciated.  Please double-bag your items, and if you sort your bag into two bags, please tie them together or label them so that we know they go together.  A food bag costs about $20 to fill.  If that’s a little steep for your budget, get together with a buddy and split the cost.  Our goal is 30 bags – we can do it!  Thank you for your faithfulness.  Food bags are collected the first Sunday of every month.  Bring them to the church and drop them off in the shopping cart in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall.  The items to include in a food bag are:

1 lb. grits                         1 lb. rice                           1 lb. dried beans            
2 cans tomatoes              2 cans applesauce           1 can carrots
1 jar peanut butter           2 macaroni & cheese       2 1-qt pkgs dry milk
2 cans navy, pinto or pork ‘n beans

A Note from Linda Baker (Who Graciously Delivers the Food Bags)
I appreciate all the bottle caps I've been able to have recycled through your donations. I would only ask that you NOT use ziploc bags to bring them to the church, as they are NOT recyclable.  I use the plastic grocery bags from the grocery (Harris Teeter, or Food Lion), which are recyclable, and then there is no waste!

While I'm making requests, I'd also ask that those of you who so generously bring Urban Ministries Food Bags, that you double bag, whether you are using plastic, or paper bags. Often the bag’s bottom falls out when lifted with all the heavy canned goods in them. Thank you for all you donations! - Linda Baker

Forum, Sunday, May 4, 9:15am – VFH
Sunday, May 4: “The State of Public Schools in NC: Legislative Update” - The last legislative session and its Appropriations Act of 2013 yielded sweeping changes to public education in NC such as implementing a voucher program, eliminating masters pay and career status for educators, and creating a contract system of employment.  Come and learn about the impact of these changes from Patty Williams, Communications Director with Public Schools First NC http://www.publicschools firstnc.org/, and Jessica Holmes, Staff Attorney with NC Association of Educators (NCAE) http://www.ncae.org/.

Dedication of Bricks – Loaves and Fishes Gratitude Garden
Engraved bricks have been purchased in honor or memory of individuals who have made a difference in the life of a child.  Two bricks will be dedicated in memory of Marjorie Eckels on Sunday, May 4, 1:30pm-2:30pm, in the front courtyard of Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1950 New Bern Ave, Raleigh, NC.  All who are interested are invited to attend.  If possible, please rsvp to Betty Anne.

BYC Summer Camp Registration Due Sunday, May 4
This is a reminder that BYC Summer Camp Registration is due this Sunday. Final payment is due by June 1. BYC (Baptist Youth Camp) is a phenomenal church camp experience in the NC Mountains with like-minded churches from all over the country. Śānti has participated in the curriculum planning and leadership at this camp for 10 years. Many of our youth have attended this camp (we had 11 participants last year). The dates are Sunday, June 29 - Friday, July 4. The camp is open to our current 6th graders (this summer's rising 7th graders) through this year's high school graduates. The cost is $325 per camper. (That covers transportation there and back, and all camp meals and lodging, and is well worth it!) If you think your youth might be interested and want to know more, please contact Śānti at forsanti@aol.com.
 
Tuesday Evening Taizé Worship – May 6, 2014, 7:00pm
We hold Taizé services each Sunday morning at 9:00am, but also on the first Tuesday evening of every month at 7:00pm. Taizé worship is marked by a spirit of contemplation, prayer, periods of silence, and singing of short and simple chants, which enable us to let go of the clutter of our minds and to listen and pray to God with our hearts.  Please join us Tuesday, May 6th, at 7:00pm in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall.

Church-Wide Outdoor Event!
Come one! Come all, for some or all of our time. CUCC youth are organizing a camping trip to Umstead Park May 9 at 4:00pm – May 10 at 4:00pm.  Join us for any of the following: dinner, games for all ages, a camp fire, and cabin camping.  If you don’t want to camp, come for the evening!  Or bring a side dish and come for activities and dinner! Signup sheet will be in the narthex beginning April 13.  For questions, contact Śānti Matthews at 919-961-8814 or forsanti@aol.com.

Pray at the Legislature – Tuesdays, 12:30pm-1:00pm
On Tuesdays from 12:30pm to 1:00pm, join Duane Beck from the Mennonite Church
for Prayers at the Legislature.  Go in the front door off of Jones Street. Turn left
and meet at a table in the garden area. Scriptures will be provided.  (SJM)

Community Corrections and Re-entry Task Force Meeting
This is led by Sarah Stohler and meets the first Tuesday of the month at 5:00pm at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. The meeting lasts approximately an hour and fifteen minutes. (SJM)

Affordable Housing Task Force
This group, led by Al Reberg, meets on the first Monday of the month, 5:30pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, 3313 Wade Avenue. (SJM)

Wake Federation of the Blind Yard Sale
Saturday, May 10th, 7:00am - 11:00am at CUCC. All donations are appreciated.  To donate items, please bring them to the Vaughan Fellowship Hall beginning at 5:30pm on Friday, May 9th, or drop them off at the church office the week prior to the yard sale. Money raised from the yard sale will help send people to our national convention. The Wake Federation of the Blind, the local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, is an organization that works for the equality of the blind and visually impaired in society and educates the general public about blindness. Thank you for helping change what it means to be blind.  For more information, go to NFB.org.

Retirees’ Group, Monday May 12, 10:30am
May is Older Americans Month. The May meeting of the Retirees’ Group will feature a discussion about long term care, a critical issue facing older adults and their families. Bill Lamb and Sheyna Alterovitz will lead the discussion. Come for what promises to be a wide ranging and interesting discussion.  Bring a box lunch.  Drinks and dessert are provided.

Urban Ministries is in need of Volunteers
Urban Ministries is in need of volunteers for their Tour de Coup and Coup Carnival fundraiser at Urban Ministries on May 17th.  There are numerous shifts and location options, including:
8:00am - setup at Urban Ministries
9:15am to 12:30pm - shift at Urban Ministries staffing ticket sales, monitoring the kids bounce house, managing beverage sales, etc.
Noon to 3:00pm - shift for same as above
3:00pm to 6:00pm shift for cleanup
9:30am to 12:30pm - At the three Whole Foods locations in Raleigh and Cary, we need at least two volunteers for each shift of ticket sales.
Noon to 3:30pm – Same as above

Apartment in CUCC Area Needed
"Clem" (Clementine) Kirkpatrick called me with the good news that she is moving back to the Triangle and looking forward to being part of CUCC again.  She would love to live in the neighborhood of the church and is looking for a one bedroom apartment to rent.  If you have any leads for her, would you email her at ck135836@gmail.com?  If you didn't meet Clem when she was part of the congregation, feel free to call Jane Smith or email her.