Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown

“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” ~ Helen Keller

The UUFP is a community that comes together and accomplishes many things. A perfect example is the wonderful intergenerational Easter Service that was led by Ruby Barnthouse and Monica Buckley. Young and old enjoyed themselves that day. An interactive story, an Easter Egg hunt and making flowers enabled everyone to participate. It was such a success, that we are planning to hold more intergenerational services in the future. A big thank you goes out to Ruby and Monica for all the time and effort they put into that service.

Another way that our community unites to accomplish things is during our annual pledge drive that will be held at the beginning of this month. While our caring community is driven by the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism, it takes money to keep us going. Everyone has been incredibly generous over the years in their financial sponsorship. Last month I outlined the goals that the Board of Directors would like to achieve in the next fiscal year and there will be some additional expenses like hiring a full-time RE teacher. In addition, I already know of one unexpected expense that is a result of the retirement of our long-term friend and cleaner, Chester Weiss. Not only did Chester do a great job keeping our fellowship clean, but he was also “quite affordable.” We will need to pay more to have the fellowship cleaned. You will hear more about the pledge drive and the spending plan from our treasurer, Kris Barnthouse.

And Save the Date for our Annual Congregational which will be held after the Sunday Service, June 11, 2023. In addition, there are other ways to support the fellowship financially. If you shop at Giant, purchase a Giant card from us, where the fellowship gets 5% of the total value spent. If you would like to participate, let me know. I place the orders at the beginning of the month. Another way is to make a “donation in kind” whereby you donate an item or items that the fellowship needs. For example, Mary Ryan buys all the paper products (paper towels, toilet paper, etc.) for the fellowship. She then fills out a “donation in kind” form for the amount that she spent. We then send her a letter that she can use for tax purposes since it is a charitable contribution. If you would like to do that, please speak to a Board member. We can help identify what items are needed and when. (Would anyone like to buy some mulch for the children’s play area??) Please do not just donate anything. Unfortunately, we are in the process of cleaning out items that individuals very lovingly donated but we do not need. Just ask before you donate. And, a big thank you to Mary for the paper products.

The last bit of community news that I will share is that we will be adding a new community: a bee hive is coming to our fellowship. UUFP friends Justine and Chad Towarnicki raise bees at their own home. They have kindly offered to bring a hive to our fellowship for the summer. Not only will our grounds benefit by having more pollinators around, members and friends of our human community will learn more about these important creatures and how they fit into our ecosystem. The hive will be off to the side of our grounds so there should be no more risk of getting stung by a bee than you normally would by just being outside. Thank you to all in our community. We are more powerful together.

With gratitude, Linda