Immense thanks
EDITOR: Cloverdale continues to amaze us. This town is so caring. What started out as a little idea to help raise much needed food items for the summer morphed into a full blown community event. At our Christmas in June event, the Cloverdale Food Pantry took in many pounds of much needed food items, such as rice, beans, tuna and over $6,000 to help purchase additional produce and ongoing operations, with donations still coming in.
While it is impossible to thank everyone here, the pantry and its patrons thank you all immensely. A special shout out goes to the American Legion for the use of the Veterans Hall, the Rotary Club of Cloverdale, the Cloverdale Lions and the generous church groups, plus the wonderful people of Cloverdale who came out to bag, sort and party, plus Wilson Winery who provided tasty wines.
If you missed the event and still want to contribute and/or your gardens produce extra fruit or vegetables, drop them off on Fridays at the food pantry.The address is 202 Commercial St. Volunteers are generally there starting late morning. Non-perishable items can be dropped off at the Clover Springs Lodge or call 396-8383 to arrange a time for larger donations. Financial donations can be sent to Cloverdale Food Pantry, P.O. Box 1038, Cloverdale, CA 95425. The need is there all year long.
MJ Dellaquila and Jean Herschede
Co-chairs Christmas in June
Not exclusive
EDITOR: I am writing in response to Harry Martin’s letter in the June 8 issue of the Reveille. I take exception to his statement that Cloverdale Indivisible is a “quite selective and exclusive group.” Although the foundational principle of the indivisible movement across the United States is that of rejecting the destructive Trump agenda, Cloverdale Indivisible seeks to constructively engage with our local community.
We welcome individuals committed to progressive values, including caring and responsibility, protection, equity, equality, fairness, freedom, opportunity, prosperity, community service, cooperation, trust, honesty and open, nonviolent communication.
Mr. Trump is doing his best to ban certain religious groups from entering this country; he is literally rounding up and either deporting or jailing tens of thousands of undocumented Latino and Hispanic immigrants who have contributed to our workforce and economy, he has destabilized our partnerships and diplomatic relationships with foreign countries, he has embraced the Russians and thinks their interference in our election is either untrue or no big deal, he has rolled back environmental protections in opposition climate science, and he is trying to take health care from 22 million of our most vulnerable populations (middle and lower income groups, the elderly and the disabled) in order to give billions of dollars in tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. These are just a few of his transgressions. Sadly he and his ilk are actively deconstructing our fragile democracy.
We in the indivisible movement vigorously oppose the deconstruction of our democracy and thus we exercise our constitutional rights by peacefully resisting in every way we can: writing, emailing, calling and tweeting our elected officials, participating in peaceful demonstrations and marches, and attending town hall meetings with our elected officials to let our voices be heard. We are a secular group supportive of democracy and the constitution (which includes separation of church and state). We seek to engage with our local community in positive ways including protecting our vulnerable communities.
Our goal is to bring community members together. In the spirit of our commitment to compassionate, nonviolent communication we are partnering with Indivisible Healdsburg to schedule a communication workshop in Northern Sonoma County by Sharon Strand Ellison. She is the creator of Powerful Non-Defensive Communication (PNDC), a method of conversing designed to defuse defensiveness, even in high conflict situations. We will keep you posted.
Vicky Groom
Cloverdale
Help needed for breakfast program
EDITOR: For the last five years, the United Church of Cloverdale, with help from the Kiwanis Club, members of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and general members of the community, has run a Cloverdale High School Breakfast Program every Friday morning during the school year. The breakfast is open to all high school students and is free. From 7—7:45 a.m. Friday mornings we have tables and chairs set up in the dining room and we put out a spread of pancakes, French toast, pizza, eggs, breakfast meats, fresh fruit and a variety of beverages. Each of these last five years we have had a core group of 15-25 students who come in every week and enjoy the breakfast and a time to socialize with their friends.
We would like to be able to continue this program again next year, but we need some additional help in order to do so. There are two categories of help we can use: 1) cooks and cleanup crew — they usually volunteer for one Friday morning a month, 2) support crew — doing jobs that don’t involve cooking or clean up and generally do not involve working Friday mornings. Below is a list of some of the jobs and positions we could use help with:
1) Cooks and set up — no previous experience needed. If you can scramble eggs or flip pancakes you’re good to go. Hours are from approximately 6:15 — 8 a.m. The average time commitment is one morning per month.
2) Cleanup crew — hand washing dishes, running the dishwasher and general kitchen and dining room clean up. Hours are from approximately 7:30 — 8:30am. The average time commitment is one morning a month.
3) Community outreach — someone to be a liaison between the school and the program, organize a yearly Dine and Donate fundraiser at Mary’s Pizza Shack, write occasional articles for the Reveille etc. The average time commitment is varied, spread out over the year. Another job that does not require working on Friday mornings.
4) Program coordinator — someone who oversees the whole program. This job will be streamlined if we get volunteers for the support positions.
If you or your organization feel like there is any way in which you could help us with any of these jobs or positions, please contact the United Church of Cloverdale at 894-2039 or uc*******@sb*******.net. We will be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
Beverly Westenberg
Cloverdale
