Members of the Coalition are individuals or organizations that are committed to advocating, educating and promoting awareness of issues and obstacles facing the homeless in Lee County through community collaboration, planning and implementing solutions.

PACE Center for Girls has provided girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy for more than 30 years.

PACE is a Florida-based, nationally recognized not-for-profit organization that provides non-residential, prevention, intervention, and diversion services for girls and young women ages 12 to 17.

Their programs provide a comprehensive and holistic model that integrates social services, education and career readiness in an individualized manner that incorporates the major develop-mental domains of girls (physical, emotional, intellectual, sexual, spiritual, and relational).

Our annual fund-raising Holiday Bake Sale & Craft Fair will be held on Dec. 4 and 11 from 11:30am to 1:00 pm.  UUCFM members may sell their crafts or baked goods for a good cause.  Please sign-up before November 27th.

Arts and Crafts 

Here are some suggested craft categories:

·         Jewelry & Leather Items

·         Knit Shawls & Scarves & Bed Sox & Hangar Pads & Hats

·         Paintings & Photography

·         Pottery

·         Stained Glass

·         Used Books & Records

·         Christmas Decor 

To participate please contact:  Pat Linhoff  e-mail freckles345@comcast.net or call 612-382-5927.

Specify  your art or craft, average price and amount of table space needed, which days you plan to participate, and brief name for your sign (i.e., Jewelry by Jennifer).  Also note what percentage you plan to donate to UUCFM.  You also can choose to donate your items -- all revenue going to UUCFM --  and not be present to sell them.  

Bake Sale 

Pies, cakes, cookies, and other treats are requested for the Bake Sale.  Some gluten-free and/or low fat items are also needed (label as such).  These goodies should be individually wrapped with a selling price on it.  All sales income will be donated to UUCFM.  You may take your goods to the Bake Sale Table before church service.  You may also volunteer to staff the table and collect sales money or to help set-up.  

To participate or volunteer please contact  Suzanne Ziemer e-mail: suzanneziemer@gmail.com or call: 812-332-3450. Specify what treats you are bringing, and on which date(s).  Also note what day you would like to volunteer.

Holton Eco Preserve Happenings

Family Gardens update…

• The majority of the garden beds were replenished with nutrient rich soil last week, and the remaining beds will be renewed this week! Just imagine all those veggies and edibles growing in the rich, brown soil – and ultimately all the fresh, organically grown produce that will follow. Honestly, it is almost magical to think about!  Do you remember as a child when the bean seed you planted started to grow? Magical… mystical… awe inspiring…
• Ken Lewis will be acting as a part-time garden manager as of last week. His hours will be dependent on the needs of the community garden, but all of us who have been volunteering to keep the gardens in tiptop shape are THRILLED to have him onboard.
• The corner gardens surrounding the garden beds are in various stages of being completed. If you have time, stroll down to the gardens and take a look. I hope you will find it interesting to see the changes that occur throughout the year!

Artists on the Holton Eco-Preserve!

Maintaining the UUCFM grounds and the Holton Eco-Preserve is a time consuming endeavor. Walt Ittenbach and the volunteer crew have made our campus a beautiful place to experience, enjoy, and visit. This week, a small group of artists requested permission to set up their easels on the grounds. They often paint in parks and preserves… They should be somewhere on the grounds on Friday morning. 

Upcoming Class

Bringing the Harvest into the Kitchen class on The Basics of Juicing

Just a heads up about one of the amazing classes we are offering this month!

Friday, October 14th, 10:00-11:30 am

The Basics of Juicing

Juicing can be a mysterious task, what ingredients do what (what to use for energy, what to use for losing weight? etc)? What ingredients can be used together so they taste good? And likewise, clean up can seem messy. Come see why it's worth the time and effort to begin juicing at home! 

Aaron Cagle has a culinary degree and five years of experience in upscale kitchens and bakeries, but his  ultimate goal is to become an ethnobotanist - he was known in Chicago as the 'plant whisperer' because of his knack for growing tropical spice plants and finding rare tropical edibles in. Now that he lives here in SW Florida he is managing a raw juice bar at Coconut Point Mall. 

Visit www.HoltonEcoPreserve.net

The Journey We Take    by Jennifer Grant

For those of us who were not born Unitarian Universalist, there is a spiritual journey we take to find our faith. I was always a Unitarian Universalist.  I just didn’t know it!

Several pivotal events happened in my life to lead me to discover our wonderful UU faith.  I was raised Jewish.  My parents tried their best to make me a nice Jewish girl.  They would take me to Sunday school and I would cut class and hang out at the McDonalds.  I grew up in a non-Jewish environment and I always felt out of place in Sunday school classes, during services and especially in Hebrew class. 

One day I had to write a report for a Sunday school assignment.  I chose the subject of interfaith marriage.  I plagiarized the entire report because I did not take Sunday school seriously.  The teacher in the course made a comment that had a very profound impact on me.  She said, “Only Jewish people are worthy.”  Wow!  I lived in a very non-Jewish neighborhood and did not have many Jewish friends. I did not like to hear that all my friends were not worthy in the eyes of God.  I also had issues from a very young age with “God.”

The temple I went to as a child was a very ugly, old building.  It did not provide me with any feeling of spirituality.  Being on the West Side of Cleveland, we always got all the Rabbi Rejects.  The good rabbis would want to be on the more affluent part of town, the East Side.  So I never had a good relationship with any of the rabbis.

Many years passed and I was a young adult living in Maryland.  I became a roommate with a woman who was really cool – she was a blond, absolutely adorable, and drove a little red corvette.  After we lived together as roommates for several years she became a born again Christian.  Growing up Jewish, I could not see myself feeling comfortable in her large interfaith community.  I wanted to find what she had though – she was very happy in her religious community.

Then we were both invited to a wedding of a neighbor.  I was originally not going to attend the wedding because I wanted to go to an outdoor country music festival.  Well, I waited too long and the concert was sold out – so I went to the wedding.  The wedding was held at Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church.  It was absolutely the universe’s way of creating an opportunity to land in a Unitarian Universalist Church.  

The building manager made an announcement that if anyone wanted to talk to him after the service about the architecture of the building or the Unitarian Universalist faith, we should see him. I spoke with Ed for a long time and he invited me to attend my first church service.  

I absolutely fell in love!  I loved the building – it is in the round and there are floor to ceiling windows and the windows look out to a beautiful wooded area.  I loved the people who were very warm and welcoming.  During my first service the lay leader mentioned the Unitarian Universalist principles and he talked about the first one – The Inherent Worth and Dignity of all People!  I knew I was home!  

Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers is pleased to offer a preventive health event.  Life Line Screening, a leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, will host their affordable, non-invasive and painless health screenings on Friday, November 4, 2016.  Five screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to: blocked arteries which is a leading cause of stroke; abdominal aortic aneurysms which can lead to a ruptured aorta; hardening of the arteries in the legs which is a strong predictor of heart disease; atrial fibrillation or irregular heart beat which is closely tied to stroke risk; and a bone density screening, for men and women, used to assess the risk of osteoporosis. Register for a Wellness Package which includes 4 vascular tests and osteoporosis screening from $149 ($139 with our member discount).  All five screenings take 60-90 minutes to complete.  In order to register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package priced above $129, please call 1-888-653-6450 or visit www.lifelinescreening.com/community-partners.