I am happy to report that our church will be taking some major parts in public events this summer and fall. First up will be the Ludington Pride Festival on July 26th. Holly Blanchard will lead the organizing of our booth for that event, and she is looking for volunteers to help set it up, tear it down, and staff it. The Pride Festival will run on that Saturday from noon until five. Before Covid, our church always had a good turn-out for this event, and it would be nice if we could support its revival. If you are interested in helping to volunteer, please let Holly know. What exactly the booth will contain will be determined by those who staff it, and so the sooner we get those people lined up, the sooner the planning can start.
Our church will also be taking a leading role in reviving what was once the Crop Walk, now named “After the Harvest: Walk for Hope,” on October 5th from 1-4PM. Thanks to O’Nealya Gronstal, the executive director of the Lakeshore Food Club, we are on our way to planning a major event that will help raise funds for the local food club. Wally Cain, Holly Blanchard, and I are on the organizing committee, which is comprised of civic and business leaders from the area. It will follow Lumberjack Days which is also on that weekend and will take place at Rotary Park and the school athletic field on Gaylord. We will seek local sponsors, walkers, and people willing to help set-up and tear-down. If you are interested in helping with any of these, please let Wally, Holly, or me know.
Due to program cuts, the Lakeshore Food Club lost $250,000 in funding this year. This event, if it goes as planned, will help make-up a significant portion of those cuts. Ninety percent of the money raised will go to the Lakeshore Food Club, and ten percent will go to Church World Service, which was the chief recipient of the funds raised from the Crop-Hunger Walk, and whose charity helps those dealing with food insecurity nationally and internationally.
At the initial planning meeting held at our church, it was amazing to see the local organizations coming together to plan it, including the police, charities, and businesses. It was also amazing how, with the appropriate people present, the connections were quickly made and the plans concretized. This is thanks to O’Nealya’s work, experience, and knowledge. Though considered “smaller” in terms of what we would like it to grow to be, it will actually be quite large in scale this year, at least larger than I was anticipating. I am confident, from the participation of the people already involved, this will be a major success.
My chief motivation in pursuing this was the good feelings the Crop-Hunger walk used to create in uniting people from so many faiths. In this polarized time, I think it is good to see this walk as an opportunity to unite people from all faiths and persuasions and engage in a uniting, positive activity toward a shared goal. The Pride Festival and the Walk for Hope are both examples of what we stand for as UU’s, and I look forward to being out there in the community, as individuals and as a church, putting our faith into practice.
