By Sara Lewis
At the drive through last Sunday the youth handed out little cardboard boxes. What are those all about? They are a UU annual tradition, a collection box for the Guest at Your Table program of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. I’ve been putting one of those little boxes on my table for decades as part of my practice of generosity during the holiday season, and for many UU’s they are a beloved tradition.
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee began as the Unitarian Service Committee during World War II, and at first focused on helping Unitarians, intellectuals, and Jewish refugees in Europe. Since then, the UUSC has continued with a global focus but follows a strategy of partnering with local organizations, empowering people who are working to solve problems close to them.
Each year the UUSC highlights different partners as our special “Guests” for Guest at Your Table, and selects a theme. This year’s theme is “The Meaning of Home”, and that will be our Sunday worship theme on Sunday November 29th.
In years past, the special guests would be featured on the box, but that led to waste and so now the box design remains the same year to year. However, you can learn more about our special guests this year on the GAYT padlet that I’ve created: https://ouuc.padlet.org/olydre1/GAYT
So keep those boxes on your table this year, learn more about our partners and guests from around the world, and share generously from your home to those who are trying to save their homes and to those who are seeking new homes. We will collect the boxes and donations back in December to send to the UUSC. If you send a donation directly, please also let us know so we can celebrate our overall giving as well.