RSNS Social Action (updated  7/14/20)

1) FULFILLING YOUR CIVIC DUTIES

• Census 2020: Help everyone be counted! Talk to friends, share talking points on social media, and remind folks to respond to the census between now and the extended August deadline!

• Disempowered Voter Outreach! The Reform Movement has partnered with the Center for Common Ground’s Reclaim Our Vote Campaign to contact low-propensity voters of color to help them register, do voter education, and/or get out the vote work. Center for Common Ground's mission is to empower underrepresented voters in voter suppression states. Registration is vital, but so is turnout,voting safely in a pandemic, and voting early and/or absentee to avoid Election Day perils. These voters not only face purges but draconian policies, misinformation, intimidation, and other obstacles to voting. Click here to fill out a form that will allow you to order a postcard kit containing instructions, a script, registrar contact information, voter addresses, and 30 postcards (you will need to provide the stamps for the postcards).

2) SAFE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES 

• The UJA has a volunteer match website for Covid-safe projects for all ages, including helping supply those on the medical frontlines.

3) PURSUING JUSTICE

 • Today, July 15, 7pm: Bend the Arc: Jewish Action Long Island July virtual community meeting. This month, we'll be moving forward on our commitment from the June meeting to dive into education around the Defund Police movement. As always, we'll also spend time building relationships, sharing updates, and have action items to plug into. RSVP here for the Zoom link.

•Join JFREJ/Never Again Action’s Let My People Go Campaign. The quest for freedom remains startlingly real for many of our most vulnerable neighbors.

4) BLACK LIVES MATTER

Coming together has always been something our community does well. Not just in moments of joy, but also to learn, to grieve, and to seek out justice. As we bear witness to the unfolding response to the murder of George Floyd, many of us are asking what we can do to learn, to grieve, and to seek out justice alongside Black Americans who endure the suffocating weight of white supremacy at every moment of their lives. Our Jewish community is uniquely situated to be allies in this moment: The ancient memory of our oppression is commemorated in our prayers and holidays, and the trauma of the Shoah is still fresh in our minds, as we feel the fresh stings of anti-semitism at our schools, streets, and our synagogues. And yet, many of us also have access to the privilege and power of white America, which this moment demands that we utilize as allies - to our own members of color as well as those in the larger community - in the fight against racial violence and oppression.

Here are some ways that we at RSNS can do what we do best - come together - to learn, to grieve, and to seek out justice:

• Thursday July 16th: LIPC Anti-Racism Virtual Workshop, 7pm: The Long Island Progressive Coalition is hosting a session at 7pm with the Anti-Racism Project. The topics of the virtual workshop will include white privilege, mass incarceration, the impact of systemic racism on Black families, and allyship in the time of Covid. The maximum number of participants in the workshop is 50. Click here to register and reserve a spot.

• If you are a white person looking to learn more about racism and how to be working more actively to dismantle it, check out anti-racism resources for white people and see the links below for more you can learn and do!

• Letter from Solomon

• Statement on Racial Justice from Reconstructing Judaism

• How to start conversations about race in your family

• PJ Library Anti-Racism Resources

• Expansive list of Anti-Racism Resources

• "Talking About Race" web portal from the National Museum of African American History and Culture

5) LOCAL FOOD INSECURITY

• Front Line Foods is now in Nassau County! Support our local restaurants that have been impacted by shelter-in-place measures, while helping them feed healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. Donate here!

• You can also donate online to the following local emergency food providers: Island Harvest, LICares Harry Chapin Food Bank, and the INN

• Leket, Israel's national food bank, is also helping those hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic. Click here to find out how you can help.

• St. Peter’s of Port Washington Food Pantry: Donations can either be brought to their Outreach Offices (not the Rectory or the Church) Mondays-Thursdays between 10AM-12PM and 1:00PM-4PM.  If your donations can not be brought during those days and times, please call their offices at 516-883-0365 to make alternate arrangements, including a pick-up of your food collection or donation. Here’s a list of the most-needed items:
    • Cooking Oil • Jelly • White Rice (no larger than a 5 or 10 lb bag) • Dried Black Beans • Dried Lentils • Dried Red Beans • Oatmeal • Corn Meal • Sazon Goya • Canned Fruit • Canned Veggies • Bread • Canned Tuna • Pancake Mix • Pancake Syrup • Shelf-Stable Juice • Flour(Small-Medium Bags) • Coffee & Tea • Sugar • Salt/Pepper • Honey • Mayo • Mustard • Relish • Bread Crumbs • Salad Dressing • Pasta Sauce • Other Spanish Condiments • Reusable Shopping Bags

• Sid Jacobson JCC Bank Buddy Curbside Food Donations:
Shop in your pantry for our most needed items to help us stock the shelves of our Community Needs Bank to donate food to our neighbors in need:

• Peanut Butter
• Pasta
• Rice
• Canned Tuna, Chicken, Sardines, and Salmon
• Cereal
• Shelf-stable Milk
• Ensure
• Toilet Paper
• Diapers and Pull-Ups

To make a donation, a drop off time needs to be coordinated first. To schedule a drop off time, contact Susan Berman, 516.484.1545 ext. 202, sberman@sjjcc.org

• Our Lady of Fatima is still in serious need of additional donations, especially rice, tuna, peanut butter, jelly, and corn. Cooking oil, canned fruit and vegetables are also needed. There is a bin outside the OLOF office at 10 Cottonwood that Sister Kathy will check periodically (even on the weekends) so feel free to drop things there. If it rains the bin will be moved to the carport. They will also accept deliveries from Amazon Prime:

ATTN Sister Kathy Sommerville
Our Lady of Fatima Church
10 Cottonwood Road
Port Washington, NY 11050

• You can also donate money directly to the OLOF food pantry, as well as to local Manorhaven residents impacted by school and work closures, by using the following steps:

l. Go to faithdirect.net and click on Give Now

2. On the new screen, click on Give Today, then enter NY303 for the church code and click Give Now

3. On the next screen, hit Make a One Time Gift Now (in blue box)

4. On the next screen, choose Neighbor Helping Neighbor

OLOF is also looking at helping out Manorhaven residents whose jobs have been affected by COVID-19 pay their rent and bills.

If you would like to mail a check please send it to:

Our Lady of Fatima Outreach
ATTN: Sister Kathy Sommerville
10 Cottonwood Road
Port Washington, NY 11050

In the memo portion of the check please note if you want the funds to go to the food pantry or to pay bills for out of work Manorhaven residents.