REACHING OUT. . .
NICARAGUA MATERIAL AID COLLECTION
They say, “Fore-warned is fore-armed” so this is a gentle “heads-up” to start gathering items for the December collection for Nicaragua. It will be held on the first two Sundays of December. Items to be collected include:
DECEMBER 2
SOAP ++ (Most Valuable Item!)
Shampoo
Band-Aids
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Vitamins, infant and adult +
Tylenol / Advil /Pain relievers +
Cough / cold medicine, children and adult
Anti-diarrhea medications
Antibiotic ointment +
Calcium tablets
Eye drops
Q-tips / cotton balls
Notebooks, + (especially 8 ½” x 11” spiral-bound)
Pens + (especially “click pens”)
Pencils +
Crayons
Colored markers / highlighters
Backpacks
Staplers / staples
Chalk
Pencil sharpeners
Glue
School report covers
Copy paper – white and pastel		 DECEMBER 9
Kids shoes, NEW (or like new)
Socks, kids & adult, NEW (or like new)
Underwear, kids & adult, NEW (or like new)
Small tools
Metric tape measures
Can / bottle openers
Sewing supplies: Scissors, Pins, Buttons, 
Needles, Thread
Copier paper
Toner

Six large, used, strong suitcases for us to transport goods in during our January 24~28, 2002, trip to LaBorgoña.

+ indicates most-needed items

When you are out shopping, you might notice sales or refund coupons on these items and therefore stretch your dollar even further.

If it is easier for you to make a donation rather than bring materials yourself, we will use that money to purchase the needed supplies and help pay for the cost of shipping. Place your check in the offering plate made out to LUMC – NICARAGUA
  

RAINBOW STRIPS ON NAME .BADGES

You may have noticed some LUMC name badges adorned with a narrow strip of rainbow colors. This is a symbol borrowed from the gay and lesbian community to indicate a person’s support for the LUMC’s reconciling congregation status. If you would like to add such a strip to your name badge, just ask Jean or Bill Santelmann or Kristina Brown Brunelle.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S NEW “FAST” PROGRAM

Amnesty International has established a new program for rapid response to reported torture, called FAST, an acronym for Fast Action Stops Torture.  Subscribers, who may join without cost on-line at www.amnestyusa.org, occasionally receive an e-mail notification of reported torture with a short summary of the report. The subscriber is then invited to click on a web URL that leads to a sample letter to be sent by e-mail to the authority responsible for the reported torture. This letter may be edited as desired or used unchanged. All that is needed is a subject line for the e-mail, after which another mouse click sends the message on its way with a copy back to the subscriber.

The process is very simple, requiring only a minute and a few keystrokes to complete. The special virtue of FAST is its very rapid response by e-mail as compared to written letters. And it seems to work! The torture is exposed faster. The torture stops sooner.

For the Outreach Committee by Bill Santelmann