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Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Movement Building

Greetings to all from WESPAC!

Our Annual WESPAC Awards Gathering is now an online gathering scheduled for Saturday, June 13th from 7pm to 8:30pm.  We truly hope that as many of you as possible will be able to join us as we honor the outstanding work of Sister Jean Fallon (Maryknoll), David Peters (New Rochelle Against Racism) and Noah Wagner and Leah Alper (If Not Now) as they continue to work tirelessly for a more just and peaceful world.
 
Please consider taking out a journal ad in support of our 46th anniversary and annual awards gathering (details for taking out a journal ad attached).  Please make your awards gathering contribution here for either general support, to attend our online gathering or to take out a journal ad.  If you are able to support WESPAC at levels that you have in the past, it would help us enormously as we have lost important revenue from renting out our beautiful office space.  Please help sustain WESPAC through this pandemic!  We are counting on you!  Let us know that you care and that you want WESPAC to keep our lights on and operations running!  Any amount at all will be very much appreciated.
 
We thank all who have already sent in contributions for our annual gathering and are happy to offer refunds upon request since there will be no actual sit down dinner this year.  The WESPAC Board is working hard to make our annual gathering as enjoyable as possible as we all adjust to new working realities.  Details to join the gathering online will be emailed to all registrants closer to the date.
 
We hope that you and your loved ones are safe as we mourn the loss of all those who have passed during this pandemic.
 
The struggle for justice continues,
 
Nada

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Environmental and Food Justice, Frontpage, Movement Building

This is such an amazing offering from our precious local farmers.  Thank you, thank you, thank you: 

This is a community effort of farmers, growers, and non profits organizing to support our community in this time of need, in the Westchester, NY area. Our Mission is to assemble “grow-bags” from our nurtured seedlings and burlap sacks. These grow- bags will be near fruiting stage and will provide you and your family with a bountiful harvest throughout the season, with care. Please see the flyer for full information and fill out the Google Form to request and reserve your vegetable grow-bags and arrange delivery. We will deliver around the Westchester area, starting on 4/29. Please feel free to contact us with any questions! See the flyer for information.

https://forms.gle/oQkHFQC8vg2FxwrK6

Best,

Natalia

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Community Gardening, Director's Blog, Environmental and Food Justice, Frontpage
Ruby Olisemeka is a Food Justice leader in Mount Vernon and will be coordinating a new CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery in her home town of Mount Vernon. The food is being produced by Rock Steady Farm in Millerton, NY, and will help provide nourishing, high quality produce to dozens in Mount Vernon. Rock Steady Farm and Flowers is a women and queer owned cooperative farm, rooted in social justice, growing sustainable vegetables, flowers and herbs in a holistic manner for our Hudson Valley bioregion. The WESPAC Food Justice fund has contributed $4,000 to this CSA effort, and we are hoping to raise another $6,000 to help nourish at least fifty people in need for the twenty week growing season. Every person has a right to high quality, fresh and local food.
If you would like to make a contribution for this effort, you may do so here: https://donorbox.org/rock-steady-farm-csa-delivery-in-mount-vernon
Thank you very much in advance for considering,
Nada

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Uncategorized

WESPAC’s investment advisor is Andrew Friedman with AJF Financial Services. In this one hour Zoom presentation, Andrew will discuss recent market turmoil, the importance of “systems investing” and the urgent need to protect ecosystems, that when disrupted by human activity, can cause serious disease. How can we use our money and investments to create the world we want to live in? This Zoom session will be facebook livestreamed. Andrew Friedman, President and Founder of AJF Financial Services, is a Certified Sustainable Investment Professional, Certified Financial Planner, a member of the Financial Planning Association and a Registered Investment Advisor. He will speak for the first half hour and then open up to questions. Instructions to join via Zoom:

Topic: Systems Investing
Time: Mar 18, 2020 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/467689904

Meeting ID: 467 689 904

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Meeting ID: 467 689 904
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/acArP5mloy

Join by Skype for Business
https://zoom.us/skype/467689904 

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Movement Building

Westchester Social Forum POSTPONED! After consultations with the Westchester County authorities, the Westchester Social Forum planning committee is postponing the March 29th social forum.

In addition, all meetings, forums and events that were scheduled for the WESPAC office are being postponed or turned into online meetings through early April. We will re-assess then. We are not yet sure about the WESPAC Dinner scheduled for April 30th and will re-assess in early April.

The more we can abide by social distancing and isolation, the less severe will be the peak of this virus. I encourage all other organizations and institutions to follow suit. Work/stay at home if you can and keep six feet from others for the next several weeks.

We need to figure out ways that service sector workers, hourly wage earners can take care of their families without needing to be forced to go to work. Community health and wellness first. Social distancing is hard. We can check on each other via phone calls, messaging etc.

I will keep you posted as plans develop, and as we are able to re-schedule.

I hope we all work together to minimize the harm of this virus and protect the most vulnerable.

Hoping you stay safe and healthy,

Nada

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Community Gardening, Director's Blog, Environmental and Food Justice, Frontpage

Corinne Segal has done a fabulous job with this interview on our food system, and how appropriate that it comes out on International Human Rights Day and on the day that we discuss Eric Holt-Gimenez’s book tonight at WESPAC at 7pm on Can We Feed the World Without Destroying It?
Take a look here: https://www.slowfoodmetronorth.org/…/nada-khader-on-the-pol… Thank you, Corinne!

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Shop Fair Trade

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Movement Building

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Director's Blog, Frontpage

This year, because of the unwavering advocacy of directly impacted people and organizations across the state, a historic package of bail, discovery, and speedy trial legislation passed in the state budget. On July 10th, join us for a #FREEnewyork Town Hall in Yonkers.  You will learn details about the new legislation, hear from directly impacted individuals and understand what this legislation means for Westchester County.

 

Together, we will:

  • CELEBRATE the thousands of people who will no longer be subject to the trauma of pretrial jailing
  • ACKNOWLEDGE those who were carved out of the legislation
  • STRATEGIZE the next stage of bail reform to end money bail and protect due process for all people regardless of charge.

 

At the Town Hall, we will hear from  directly impacted people as well as our allies in this work.

 

RSVP FOR THE FREEnewyork Town Hall: Westchester

 

The event is sponsored by JustLeadershipUSA, VOCAL-NY, NYCLU, Westchester Children’s Association, WESPAC Foundation, Westchester for Change, Irvington Activists and LPS Progressive Life Services.

 

Details

  • Date: July 10th
  • Time: 6-8 PM PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
  • Location: Yonkers Public Library (Riverfront, 1 Larkin Center, Yonkers)
  • RSVP HERE
  • Spread the word on Facebook& with the attached flyer
  • Free & open to the public

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Movement Building