Causes for Holiday Market – Dec. 1st, 2018

Click here for more information about Quaker Market : https://dev.annapolisfriends.org/community-engagement/quaker-market/

The Quaker Market Committee has completed its discernment process for the Holiday Market 2018 causes, and would like to announce our results:
$250 to AFM Young Friends to award following their own discernment process

• 37.5% to Quaker United Nations
• 37.5% to Springbrook High School’s Free Store
• 25% to AVP-Uganda

QUNO

Quaker United Nations Office https://www.quno.org/ is part of the American Friends Service Committee, and works on promoting global peace and justice. By choosing this cause we are showing our support for AFM Young Friends (QUNO was recommended by a Young Friend as a result of his studies and interests), as well as the United Nations, American Friends Service Committee, and the goals QUNO is working to achieve. We are looking forward to hearing more about this cause during a presentation in conjunction with potluck on 6 January.

Springbrook High School’s Free Store

AFMs Jenn Delorge-McKeown started working this year as an ESOL teacher at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, where 48% of their students receive Free and Reduced Price lunch. In order to make sure that their students have the school supplies, clothes and toiletries they need to thrive and succeed, the school has opened a Free Store to provide these items for their low income students. Last year, according to their Amazon Wish List,  https://a.co/1Znu22K the store helped 200 students in the first three months alone, including a student just immigrating from Afghanistan, a student with 10 brothers and sisters, and many who just need toothbrushes. This cause struck a number of chords for the Quaker Market Committee, including supporting immigrants, youth, a local cause, and a dedicated teacher from our own community.

AVP-Uganda

AFM has a long and close connection with AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project). Many of our community members have received AVP training, and many have worked as facilitators in a variety of settings, including prisons in Jessup and elsewhere. With this choice we are building on a grant awarded by Swarthmore Friends Meeting through their Anne Bernstein Richan Peace Action Fund https://swarthmorefriendsmeeting.org/node/154, and helping to expand the number of training sessions that can be offered by AVP-Uganda in their work in refugee camps. The main fundraiser for this project, Debbie Leter, comes highly recommended by both Anny Sadler (one of AFMs AVP facilitators) and Martin Krafft, who says Debbie has done a great job as a 2018 AVP-USA Peace Fellow, and proven herself to be both a skilled AVP facilitator and a diligent worker. Debbie will be traveling to Uganda in January 2019 to work with the in-country coordinator of AVP- Uganda and other facilitators, as they ramp up their training workshops in the refugee camps. Describing this work, Debbie says “AVP is active around the world, and the chapter in Uganda has been doing workshops in refugee camps with South Sudanese refugees. There are over a million refugees in Uganda who have fled the civil war in South Sudan, which began in 2013–it is the largest refugee crisis in Africa since the Rwandan genocide.” For more info/details please check out Debbie’s fundraising page for the project:  https://chuffed.org/project/avp-uganda .  With this choice, the Quaker Market Committee is supporting non-violent conflict resolution training in Ugandan refugee camps where this is desperately needed, and the ripple effect that we believe will occur as a result. We are also happy to be able to support an organization with such strong Quaker connections, being championed by a young person who has chosen to pursue work that aligns so closely with Quaker testimonies.