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activism alerts october
2004 |
- Amplify Pre-Election, Kid-Friendly Faith!
- Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Ladies of La Leche
- New American Dream Book Club Conference Call
- Support Toughest Bill Yet To Ban Junkfood In Schools
Amplify Pre-Election, Kid-Friendly Faith!
The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), in conjunction with the Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC and Dean of the Washington National Cathedral, has announced details for a major Interfaith Service for Justice for Children and the Poor.
Who: The service is nonpartisan and has been endorsed by more than 150 national, regional, and local religious communities, congregations, organizations, seminaries and colleges. The public is warmly invited. Prominent Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other religious leaders and speakers from across the nation will join together.
What: This free, intergenerational, family-friendly evening of prayer, concern, and commitment to the most vulnerable in our nation, is open to the public.
When: Thursday October 28th, 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts
and Wisconsin
Avenues NW, Washington D.C.
Why: Children are the poorest group of Americans. More than 12 million children-one in six-live in poverty and the number of poor children has increased every year for the past three years. An American child is reported neglected or abused every 35 seconds and millions of children suffer from hunger, homelessness and illiteracy in the richest nation on earth. Advocacy, voice, and leadership are urgently needed and could make an enormous difference for children at this crucial moment in history. According to CDF staffer Isai Baltezar, “We want people to fill the cathedral…. so that when they return to their communities they will motivate and energize others to go out and vote on November 2.”
For further information, to RSVP or for help with coordinating group transportation, please call the CDF toll-free at 1-866-274-9654, or email interfaith@ChildrensDefense.org. If you live beyond public transportation but within a 1.5 hour driving radius and are interested in chartering a bus from your community to the event, there is the possibility of reimbursement by the CDF, as available resources permit. The CDF is also interested in offering food for Muslim attendees observing Ramadan, if enough requests are phoned in ahead of time.
Click here for an event flyer you can download and print. (MS Word doc 300KB)
Sources: Taj A. Brown, Isai Baltezar, and Toby Chaudhuri, of the Children’s Defense Fund, www.childrensdefensefund.org
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Ladies of La Leche:
The LLLI Alum Association is collecting the old LLL logo fabric. If you
have some and want to let it go, please mail it to, or contact:
Janice Horvath
4564 Winderwood Circle
Orlando, FL 32835
321-438-0036
PackerJanice@CFL.rr.com
The alumni appreciate your sharing. They are planning to use the fabric to make hats, slings, decorations and other items for the 2005 conference and the 2007 50th anniversary conference.
Outstanding Active or Retired LLLI Leader Awards for 2005
The LLLI Alumnae Association is seeking nominations for its award to be presented at the LLLI Conference in Washington DC in July, 2005. The award is given to past or present LLL Leaders who have gone on to demonstrate excellence in their professional, personal, or volunteer accomplishments, and who are recognized as leaders in their field. These accomplishments may be in any area, such as business, government, the arts, media, education, social services, sciences, health care, literary or humanitarian endeavors, etc.
Past award recipients include the LLLI Founders (1999), Peggy O'Mara of Mothering Magazine (2001), Barbara Nicholson and Lyssa Parker of Attachment Parenting International (2003).
Nominees must be submitted by another person, with the following criteria:
1. Contact information (mailing address, email, and phone number) for nominee
(if available) and nominator.
2. A description of the nominee's professional, personal, or volunteer accomplishments.
3. An explanation of why this person is a recognized leader in her field or
endeavor.
4. Information on when and where the nominee was (or currently is) an LLL Leader.
The nomination is due on or before March 15, 2005. Choose one of the following
options to submit a nomination:
1. Mail your nomination (responding to the questions listed above) to:
Janet Jendron, LLL Alumnae Award Committee Chair 112 Park Springs Road Columbia
SC 29223-5520 USA
2. Email your nomination (responding to the questions listed above) to jjendron@usit.net.
3. Submit the online nomination at www.lalecheleague.org/Alumnae/awardnom04.html
If you have questions you may contact Pam Oselka, Coordinator of the Alumnae
Association at 269-469-2706 or POselka@llli.org.
All nominations must follow the guidelines and meet the deadline.
New American Dream Community Book Club Conference Call
The New Dream Community Book Club is an ongoing series with your neighbors and national leaders in the fields of sustainability and culture change. Sponsored by the Center for a New American Dream, Book Club conference calls are held the third Wednesday each month.
The next call, on Wednesday, October 20th at 8 pm ET, features New Dream President Betsy Taylor and New York Times bestseller Juliet Schor, discussing Schor's hot-off-the-press book Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture.
Additional information, instructions and a Toolkit are posted at www.newdream.org/bookclub/
Participation is free and call-in instructions can be obtained by emailing outreach@newdream.org
Participants are not required to finish the book prior to the call, but are
strongly encouraged to at least read and consider the Toolkit's starter questions.
Participants are also encouraged to join with friends, family, and community
members to discuss the book and topic in person earlier in the evening, then
call in together on speakerphone, as this makes for the richest experience.
Tips and tools for hosting a Book Club with friends at your home are posted
at www.newdream.org/bookclub/ Participants
are also encouraged to post their events at www.newdream.org/cnad/user/user_post_event.php
The next Book Club event will feature Hundred Dollar Holiday author Bill McKibben
on Wednesday, November 17th, 8-9 pm ET.
Support Toughest Bill Yet To Ban Junkfood In Schools
In response to the growing childhood obesity epidemic, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA )has stepped forward with a bill to ban the sale of soda pop and junk food in schools. The bill is called the “Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act” (S. 2894).Most importantly, the bill would require schools that receive federal funds to establish polices to "ban vending machines that sell foods of poor or minimal nutritional value," such as soda, soft drinks and candy. It would provide grants preferentially to schools that (1) prohibit the advertising or marketing of junk food, or (2) provide food options low in fat, calories and added sugars, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, or (3) encourage the consumption of water in school by maintaining a minimum number of water fountains.
Other non-school provisions are included in S.2894, as well. The bill would implement recommendations from an Institute of Medicine study on childhood obesity, to convene a national summit on food advertising and marketing guidelines (and the marketing of "practices that promote sedentary behavior," such as TV and video games). It would also authorize the Federal Trade Commission to enact rules to enforce these guidelines.
Doubtless, our nation’s obesity lobby (our largest food and beverage companies, media conglomerates and advertising agencies) will do everything they can to oppose the legislation. And in Washington, they carry a lot of weight (please pardon the pun).
What you can do to help
1) Contact your U.S. Senators today in support of the Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act (S. 2894). The congressional switchboard phone is 202.225.3121. Click here to send emails to your senators in support of the bill
2) Alert others about this effort, and ask them to act on it.
Source: www.commercialalert.org.
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