S:F&A Annual Report, October 2006

Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico

Present were: David Abazs, Marci Ankrom, Stan Becker, Louis Cox, Susan Dietrich, Gaynelle Doehne, Janet Frieswyk, Marshall Gibson, Mary Gilbert (recording), Dick Grossman, Michael Jokinen, Donn Kesselheim, Steve McConnell, Roy Treadway, Noel Pavlovic (clerking), Dave Richman, Joyce Rouse, Bob Wixom, and Ruth Zwirner. Others who were in attendance arrived later but their names were not recorded.

We opened with a period of silent prayer, followed by introductions.

Noel explained that S: F and A’s history includes the coming together of several earlier committees focused on sustainability, population concerns and public policy.

Men for Men Fund

Dick discussed the Men For Men Fund, which will help to provide vasectomies for men in Quaker Meeting and Church communities who want the procedure but lack funds. The project was approved at last May’s QEW meeting, with certain minor changes in the wording of the documents to be approved by Continuing Counsel. These changes have been made and reviewed by a lawyer. We began to discuss how to publicize the Fund’s availability, and suggested using the S:F and A budget for ads in Quaker publications, to wit: Friends Journal, Quaker Life, Friends Bulletin, and the Journal of the Friends Association for Higher Education. It was felt that an article should first be submitted to these publications, followed up by ads; marketing experience suggests that people begin to remember an ad only after about 6 exposures. It was presumed that Dick will write the article and Noel will assist as needed. Extending the availability of the Fund will depend on how things go. Funds are currently available to subsidize three vasectomies. Simply stimulating discussion of the issue will be important in and of itself.

Representation at the UN

Mary reported on the status of our representation at the UN. We have an ongoing accreditation that allows us to send representatives to Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) sessions. These reps can simply be named on a letter sent by Barbara, and attendance is for two weeks only. We have applied for accreditation through the Dept. of Public Information (DPI), which would allow two badge-holders to attend UN sessions year-round, but have heard nothing back. We may have to re-apply. Mary promised to do more reporting on her UN experience. Janet Frieswyk expressed interest in representing QEW at the UN, along with Mary.

Population

Donn suggested we (perhaps with others) take a full-page ad in the New York Times addressing the increase of the population of the U.S. to 300 million. The ad would urge people to limit family size and to consider adoption. This idea was laid down for reasons of cost and recognizing that major newspapers were covering the story. Instead, Stan, Roy, Dick and Donn prepared a news release that was approved by the Steering Committee to be sent to our local newspapers (see attached document).

Stan had a 30-minute presentation to mark the inauspicious achievement of a U.S. population of 300 million this month to present to the annual meeting. S:F & A support resulted in his presenting this informative Powerpoint presentation Saturday evening.

Publications

Roy reported that Publications Committee encourages all parts of QEW to be much more active about putting things on our web site. In particular they want to feature short—3 sentences to 750 words—personal stories about what we are doing in our own lives to move toward greener and sustainable living. We can send these either directly to the Publications Committee (Roy Taylor) or, if we are members of S: F and A, to Noel who will forward them.

Resources

Recommended resources for Friends included the video “Kilowatt Ours” (www.kilowattours.org) and the books “You Can Prevent Global Warming” by Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner and “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community” by David Korten. You might want to check out the The Pachamama Alliance (www.pachamama.org), a group working with indigenous peoples to preserve and sustain cultural/earth relationships through videos, workshops and other activities.

The meeting closed with a period of silent prayer .