“Quaker Voice holds an annual Quaker Lobby Day in Olympia. The Environmental Stewardship group always has significant bills that the gathered Quakers lobby for with their representatives. We also worship together and share a meal. The last QLD was on Jan. 28, 2026. The next will be when the new session starts – so in winter. At that time we lobbied (successfully) against a law enabling nuclear reactors and (again successfully) for a law to upgrade the power grid so it could include renewable power. We can’t do the normal spring/fall thing because we have to gather when the legislature is in session. We do, however, also do meetings over the course of the year with individual legislators.”

“Illinois Yearly Meeting will be having one of our twice yearly Work Days organized by the Maintenance, Planning, and Envisioning Committee at the yearly meeting campus on Saturday, October 3rd. Activities this fall will include work on the native plant “pollinator” garden and a new composting system, as well as the usual building maintenance and care of the 12-acre site. The MP&E committee was looking for suggestions of a lunchtime program for that day. At annual sessions (June 19, 2026) the MP&E clerk gladly agreed to have QEW reps and ILYM Environmental Concerns Committee members provide such a program on that day. Sarah Pavlovic, Chip Rorem, and Noel Pavlovic will take the lead in planning – possibly on the topic of moving funds from the stock market. There’s also an opportunity to orient the group’s thinking to the spiritual aspects of the work we do in community on this land.”

September 19, 2026 is the inaugural QEW Day of Action, taking place during the Season of Creation, but you’re welcome to hold your Day of Action on a nearby date that works for your meeting. We hope that this is the beginning of a new biannual tradition: one Day of Action each fall during Climate Week or the Season of Creation, and one each spring around Earth Day.

Yes! You’re welcome to join another Meeting’s Day of Action that you can discover through our map, or reach out to QEW about how to get something started in your community.

Not at all. Meetings are encouraged to choose whatever action fits their community’s needs. That might mean working on meetinghouse land, cleaning up a local creek, or partnering with a local environmental group to remove invasive species from public lands.