Working out
This Friday, July 21 we will be holding a fundraising event, an Internationally themed dinner. The dinner, which will start at 6 pm, will feature Senegambian food which will include vegetarian and vegan dishes, a Hmong salad, and numerous desserts from around the world. It will be held at First Unitarian Society in west Madison.
Most importantly, it is going to be a festive chance for people to get together and learn more about the Welcome Corps program and our local efforts.
You are invited to join us! While we are asking for a donation of $35 per person ($15 for kids), please don’t let that be a barrier to attending. All are passionately welcome. After all, it’s in our name isn’t it? Welcome.
While talking to the good folks at WORT this week, Liz and had a chance to talk about why we are doing this project, and some thoughts came to mind that are worth repeating. One is how much this work has been a positive for all of us working on it. Gathering together and pooling our resources, both monetary and talent wise, has been just a heart warming experience. Seeing how people step up and contribute. Finding hidden talents. And making new friends has been uplifting. Building a community based on a shared goal.
Second is how the future looks, and how we are preparing for it. As global climate change progresses, and we are seeing it every day now, we need to give thought to how we as humans are going to behave. And I for one am not willing to turn my back on those whose homes are lost to whatever symptom of climate calamity may befall them, from economic collapse, persecution, flooding, heat, sea level rising — the list is Long and growing. Yes, we can close our border and build walls with barb wire and gun towers. Bu I for one don’t want to be in that nation, surrounded by poor desperate fellow humans. So learning how to help and integrate refugees to our community is a necessary skill we all should be learning. And a sense of humility should we become refugees ourselves.
I strongly believe there are sufficient resources in this world for all of us if we work together cooperatively. But it is a muscle we need to exercise. Four Lakes Welcome Corps is our small way to help build those muscles.