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STUDENT ACTIVITY FUND

OF THE LONG ISLAND AREA COUNCIL OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATIONS

STUDENT ESSAYS – SUMMER 2014

Students were asked to reflect on the following:

 What contributions do you feel you have made to your participating agency through your SAF work?  Overall, what did you learn from your experiences at this agency?  Give one particular example of an experience you had at the agency and what you feel you learned from it.  In what ways did your internship experience relate to the 7 UU Principles and Purposes (listed below)? Also, how did it serve to clarify, strengthen or change your Unitarian Universalist values and beliefs?  Reflect on the ways in which the content of the Environmental Justice Workshops relate to your internship experience. Table of Contents

Scott Altern - The Mary Brennan Inn...... 3 Claire Anderson - Hospital for Special Surgeries (Clinic)...... 3 Katie Beach - The Mary Brennan INN...... 5 Kim Bernstein - Herstory Writers Workshop...... 6 Sarah Bilello - All About Cats...... 7 Amanda Cohen - Carillon Nursing Home...... 8 Daniel S DeCamello - Congressman Steve Israel’s Office and Planting Fields Arboretum...... 9 Emma DuNaier - Community Ambulance Company...... 9 Tara DuNaier - Pal-O-Mine...... 10 Megan Goldberg - Action Against Hunger & Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office...... 12 Alexandra Goldsmith - Tackapausha Museum and Preserve...... 14 Alex Greenberg – Boys and Girls Club of Glen Cove and S.T.R.O.N.G Youth Inc...... 15 Danny Greenberg - Animal Lovers League and Boys and Girls Club...... 16 Hannah Iversen – Vermont Festival of the Arts...... 17 Lisa Kremen - Rosa Lee Young Children’s Center and African Impact...... 18 Sherifa Kurjakovic - Garden City Environmental Center...... 21 Katharine Lynch - Sweetbriar Nature Center, Smithtown NY...... 22 Susana Lyons-Kiang - Alley Pond Environmental Center...... 23 Dana Majewski - Community Mainstreaming Associates...... 24 Aaron Miner - Long Island Children’s Museum...... 25 William Morris - Smith Haven Ministries...... 26 Mara Moss – Franklin Park Conservatory...... 26 Hannah Schlechter - Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office...... 29 Madeleine Schwab - Let’s Get Ready...... 30 Rebecca Silverman - Save-a-Pet Animal Shelter...... 31 Adam Soo - One Flushing...... 32 Corey Soong - Wild Bird Fund...... 33 Alex Wolff – Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office...... 34

2 Scott Altern - The Mary Brennan Inn Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock This summer I decided to apply for an internship at the Mary Brennan Inn, the Inn for short. The Inn is a soup kitchen in Hempstead that provides a lot more to its guests than just soup. I thought I knew exactly what my job would be like volunteering at the Inn before I got there—you know, standing behind a steel table handing out bowls of soup to lines of hungry guests. After two months of interning at the Inn, however, I found out that this could not be any farther from the truth. My daily routine at the Inn was never the same; I was constantly being shifted from task to task. Given that I was stronger than the average volunteer there, most of my jobs consisted of picking up something heavy and moving it. My days working at the Inn were tiring, but in my physical exertion I also found solace. It never once felt like I was doing a meaningless job, every box of milk and bag of potatoes I carried made me feel like I was directly helping the denizens of Hempstead. This connection I felt was only strengthened by the conversations I had with our guests, which in fact most began with a guest complimenting my awesome apron. I learned a lot while working at the Inn, but one of the unexpected lessons I learned at the Inn was not to judge one’s character before I really knew them. One day on my job I was tasked with restocking our bookshelves so the guests could have material to read while waiting for food and services. I didn’t peg any of the guests to be readers, but I was dead wrong. While restocking books, guests began to gather behind me. The instant I walked away from the shelf, nearly every book I just placed on the shelf was gone. This experience reinforced the fact that just because somebody needs some lunch, a shower, or clothes to wear does not define who they are. At the end of the day, everybody needs a helping hand. Lastly, I felt that my experience at the Inn strengthened my Unitarian Universalist values. Learning not to judge our guests by what I thought I knew about them reaffirmed the first two Unitarian Universalist principles—the inherent worth and dignity of every person; and justice, equity and compassion in human relations. Every person deserves the right to be treated as an equal, even if they are a guest at a soup kitchen; furthermore, it’s important to show compassion to others in times of need. I am grateful for my time spent volunteering at the Mary Brennan Inn, my experience was truly enriching. I encourage you too, young or old, to join me and help out too! We can always use another helping hand at the Inn.

Claire Anderson - Hospital for Special Surgeries (Clinic) Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens

I have received the Student Activity Fund twice now. While this second summer of work has been so incredibly different from my first, both have been rewarding experiences that I feel I have grown from. Last summer, I worked for a non-profit legal group whom gave aid to those with mental health instability as well as other less supported people. This summer, I have been 3 volunteering at a clinic in Hospital for Special Surgery which has been preparing me to look into my future career as a physician. Most of what I have learned here I have translated to my interest in becoming a doctor or working in the medical field. I often have been thinking "I hope I am not THAT kind of Doctor" or "I know if I become a doctor I will do this for my patients." During this summer, I have also learned my strengths and my weaknesses in patient care. Overall, I have grown creatively and intellectually by volunteering for this clinic.

At the beginning of the summer, I received training for patient care and emergency situations. I also had extensive fire and evacuation training. The hospital is very thorough about emergency situations and training their volunteers. The hospital even screens volunteer candidates like employees, requiring a cover letter, resume, interview and medical clearance before putting you in a volunteer position. I had a very unique position in the hospital. I was assigned to the clinic which is much smaller than the daunting main hospital and has a much smaller staff. This was an advantage to me because I got to interact and learn more about the staff including doctors, nurses, techs and schedulers. By having these smaller interactions, I was able to learn much more. Nurses arranged for me to shadow different doctors and clinics that came through each week. I sat in on many appointments including neurology, sports/shoulder orthopedics, spine orthopedics, pain management and hand orthopedics. This was one of the most exciting things for me because I got to see how each specialty worked and they each also connected. I have never actually thought about orthopedics before, but I am definitely thinking about it now.

I also worked in the Nurse's Screening office. This is where pre-operative patients are seen and phones are answered concerning various medical and clinic questions. I mainly helped answer phones, which the two busy nurses definitely needed. I have never considered myself as a skilled customer care worker, but working this position has helped improve this skill for me. I learned a tremendous amount by being around these two nurses, as they are two of the hardest and most incredible workers I have ever come across. They also were very accommodating and never treated me as less than any other person. I felt so lucky to be put in such an office and worker there for a large portion of this summer. Normally, I would have found this to be boring but helping these women made everything worth it. Talking to patients all day on the phone has definitely tested my patience and my emotions. There have been times where I feel mean and helpless because I knew I wouldn't be able to help them. On one occasion, I was cursed out by an angry person just for taking down her information and not answering her problems right then and there. Mostly, patients were kind and understanding which was wonderful. All of this taught me to control a situation no matter how a patient will react.

I applied to volunteer at many hospitals in early February and I could not have been happier with my choice to work at Hospital for Special Surgery. Not only has the staff been friendly and educational, but they were also supportive and hardworking. The clinic is not always a happy place, many of these patients have insurance that require prior authorization for any test or any medication but the staff works very hard to get a patient everything they may need. The variety in type of work I completed at the clinic definitely built upon skills I can use now as well as ones I will need later on in life. Working at this clinic has proven to help me now and for the future, which is why this has been such a good summer.

4 Katie Beach - The Mary Brennan INN South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Working at the Mary Brennan INN in Hempstead, an organization that provides food and other services to those in need, was a truly amazing experience for me this summer. I was able to be in a work environment while helping to meet people’s basic needs – mostly food and clothing. I feel that I contributed to this agency by stepping up to help whenever it was needed and eventually being a leader. Not long after I started working at the INN, I was called upon to show new volunteers how to sort and organize the clothing and food donations along with how to stock the guest choice pantry.

Working for this agency showed me a side of the world that I had been ignorant about. I didn’t realize the number of people who are in need so close to me. Although working at the INN could seem emotionally draining at times, I benefited tremendously from this new insight; it showed me how simple it is to help people.

An important experience for me was the day I arrived at work and my supervisor informed me I was going to be in charge of about 20 new volunteers. At this point, I had some confidence toward positions like this – but never on such a large scale. I was pretty worried about how this was going to go. When the volunteers came in and I started going through how to properly do everything, I wasn’t nearly as scared as I thought I would be. About an hour in, however, we got 30 boxes of donations but we were able to split up into groups and finish all the sorting before lunch. My leadership helped these new volunteers be more productive; I really enjoyed developing my leadership skills, being someone people could go to when they needed direction.

The Mary Brennan INN relates to the 7 Unitarian Universalist principles in all it does. It strongly supports the inherent worth and dignity of every person as they do not turn away anyone who is in need. I feel that the INN is built on a foundation of acceptance and respect with the goal of a community of peace, liberty and justice for all. It also provides social workers for anyone who needs them, which demonstrates the value of equal and compassionate human relations.

The INN relates to the SAF program’s Environmental Justice Workshops in many ways. One way would be with its redistribution of clothing donations -- essentially recycling clothing that people would otherwise throw out and would end up in landfills. It also takes food donated from places that would otherwise throw it out because of new shipments or upcoming expiration dates.

I very much enjoyed working at the Mary Brennan INN for the month of July; it was a great experience that I will never forget. The other volunteers were great to work with, helping to make it a very positive work environment. I plan on returning during my school breaks to volunteer, and I would love to be able to work there again next summer.

5 Kim Bernstein - Herstory Writers Workshop Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook

This summer, I worked as an intern at Herstory Writers Workshop, a nonprofit organization that uses personal memoir to push for social justice. Some of their bigger projects have been working with women in all three of Long Island’s jails and Latina women, some of whom are undocumented immigrants. This summer, their main project was spearheading the Long Island leg of the Correctional Association of New York’s Raise the Age campaign, a campaign that is pushing to raise the age of youth automatically prosecuted and incarcerated as adults from 16- to 18-years-old. New York is one of only two states that still does so. Our goal was to find youth who were either prosecuted as adults or given alternative sentencing to write about their experience in the criminal justice system and how being prosecuted as an adult vs. as a youth helped or hindered their growth and rehabilitation.

I worked a lot on this campaign in gaining partners in the cause and finding stories that could help change hearts and minds. We created partnerships with Prison Families Anonymous, the Nassau County Youth Court, NYCLU, and of course, the CANY. I have also taken the Raise the Age campaign to both the UUFSB and the UUCSR, where their social justice and racial concerns committees have taken interest in the cause. I helped plan and organize a press conference, which will be taking place on August 20th at11:00am on the steps of the Nassau County Supreme Court, to urge our legislatures to take a stand and treat children as children. Aside from the Raise the Age campaign, I worked on several other projects throughout the summer, including copy editing our latest book, setting up a filing system on the new office computer, creating flyers and brochures for various events and book sales, keeping up communication with our various partners on several different projects, and helping out wherever else I could.

Working for Herstory has taught me several things about the nonprofit world, such as figuring out which grants to apply for, how to best fundraise, and where time is best spent for the greatest outcome. However, the most important thing Herstory has taught me is the importance of relationships. It’s amazing the things that can happen if you know the right people. The more you do outreach and build relationships, the more likely you are in the future to be able to achieve everything you want to. These relationships must be fostered and then continue grow as time goes on. Just those small things such as a note of gratitude can go such a long way. You have to always be on your A-game and creating connections since you never know when that person may become an asset to your organization.

My internship mostly correlated with the first, second, and sixth principles. By working mostly with underprivileged women, such as those who are incarcerated or undocumented, Herstory works to bring a voice to the voiceless. Each and every person has worth and dignity, regardless of if they are living behind bars, in poverty, or without education. These people, especially, deserve the justice, equity and human compassion that they have been denied. By working to create their stories to share with a wider audience, these women can help spread the word about who they truly are, and help create a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.

Growing up rather privileged, it was very eye opening to work with those who had such a different experience growing up. Herstory thrives on bringing together those who come from very different worlds and showing them just how similar they are. There was one workshop where the

6 daughter of a Nazi soldier wrote beside a woman who lost her mother in the Holocaust. Together, they wrote about similar experiences of growing up as children of war and the experience of losing a parent before the age of five. I had the privilege of working with Latina women who were victims of domestic violence and, because of financial difficulty, had nowhere else to go. An unevenly proportioned amount of the women who were incarcerated were living on or below the poverty line, many of whom turned to the drug trade to feed their families, or committed small crimes to have somewhere warm to sleep during the winter months. Many women ended up back in jail for a parole violation of being unable to get or keep a job, even though several wealthy people are losing their jobs daily because the job market is so poor. These incarcerated women and domestic violence survivors often shared a background of poverty and a feeling of helplessness. A booming economy would in no way end crime or domestic violence, but it might help keep those who don’t deserve to be incarcerated out of jail, and those who are survivors to fight for the hope of a new life.

Kim Bernstein, working a table at Prison Families Anonymous' Annual Reentry Conference at Touro Law School.

Sarah Bilello - All About Cats South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Congregation (SNUUC)

I feel like I have made contributions to my community by helping out cats and kittens in need through my SAF work. I learned that animals need just as much help as humans do. One example was when I was feeding the cats. To me, feeding these cats felt like I was feeding the homeless, because these cats and kittens do not have home yet. My experience working in All About Cats related to the first, second, and seventh Unitarian Universalist principle the most. For example, the first principle is “the inherent worth and dignity of every person”, which means that 7 every person is important. Every person could also mean every animal. Every single one of those cats and kittens are important to this world. Once they find their home, they will make their owner very happy. Nowadays, people are very stressed out with the lives they live. Petting a cat’s soft fur and hearing them purr is an actual known stress reliever, so they are important in that aspect. For the second principle, “justice, equity and compassion in human relations”, also known as “be kind in all you do”, these cats need just as much kindness as humans do. Just because they don’t look like humans and don’t necessarily have the same exact anatomy as humans doesn’t mean that they don’t have feelings too. Every cat and kitten needs just as much kindness as the next one, especially the feral ones. The seventh principle states “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part”. These homeless cats and kittens live on this interdependent web of life with us. They need us to give them love and feed them and clean them and make sure that they are healthy, and we need them to give us love in return and help relieve the stress of our day to day lives. These cats and kittens live in the same environment as we do and if we don’t take care of the environment, these cats and kittens surely won’t have any home to go to.

Amanda Cohen - Carillon Nursing Home Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Huntington

For my volunteer choice, I got the pleasure to help out at the Carillon Nursing Home. I got to work with the Recreation Department in order to help the elderly get out of their rooms and to help them forget about their issues. Over my time spent there I have learned some new things. I have learned that not everyone can be helped. I go around the home asking various people if they would like to join us in today’s activity. There are some where no matter how hard you try they do not wish to come down. I have learned to be patient because some of them take a while to understand what they mean. I would recommend this job to anyone who wants to be with people and likes BINGO. We do play a decent amount of BINGO. You have to be patient because a lot of the times you have to repeat yourself. I have also learned that even though a lot of the people are nice some of them aren’t. However you have to remember that you are here for them and that some of them are not in their right mind and you have to remember that what you are doing is to help them. Some UU values that I used throughout my volunteering is that each person is important. I remember that every day and try to encourage people to come to the activity each day. I also am kind in all I do. Even if I am having a bad day I still come in everyday with a happy attitude and a smile. This is my second time being accepted into the Student Activity Fund program. The first time I also volunteered my time at the Carillon Nursing Home. I loved it so much that I just had to do it again. Because of it, I now know what I want to do with the rest of my life, which is to study with geriatrics, or work with the elderly.

8 Daniel S DeCamello - Congressman Steve Israel’s Office and Planting Fields Arboretum Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock This summer I had internships at both Congressman Steve Israel’s Melville District Office and Planting Fields Arboretum State Park. The two were polar opposites in terms of the type of work involved but both were great experiences that taught me very much. At Congressman Israel’s Office I often did very similar work to that at the Glen Cove Mayor’s Office where I worked the two previous summers. A significant portion of my time was spent answering phones and either logging constituent comments or working on cases for them. Many of these cases involved agencies such as the VA or Medicare and I would usually be responsible for drafting letters from the Congressman to these agencies on behalf of our constituents. I felt that my writing skills were fully utilized here and in drafting the various other correspondences I was tasked with. Some of the most rewarding moments were hearing from citizens who had their issues resolved promptly thanks to the letters I had written, and these also taught me how significant of an impact such seemingly small acts can have. The first UU principle of the inherent worth and dignity of every person certainly tied in with my work at the Congressman’s office. It was the responsibility of myself and my coworkers to fight for the rights of citizens that had been forgotten by the agencies that owed them benefits. We did this in an indiscriminate manner and spent as much time on a given constituent’s case as was needed to achieve the desired result. In some cases we would even work for individuals who were not in our congressional district, or even U.S. citizens for that matter, but needed help in their path to immigrate here to re-unite with family. This also relates to the second UU principle of justice, equality and compassion in human relations. My work at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park was entirely different and much more physical. I spent a large portion of my time pulling weeds, raking paths, pruning rhododendrons, and covering flowerbeds with mulch. Just as my communication skills helped in my office work, here my height and strength helped me make a valuable contribution to the mostly older group of volunteers and staff. While this might not seem like the most glorious work, for me it was a much-needed change of pace from my desk job and I enjoyed being outside immensely. Working at Planting Fields also tied in nicely with the theme of our environmental discussions at both of the SAF workshops this summer. The park houses a great deal of plants and animals, many of which are susceptible to harm by invasive species and thus must be protected with care. At Planting Fields this is done in the most natural way possible, without the use of pesticides or any chemical agents wherever possible. It was very rewarding to see that with a little work there is so much potential for a vibrant ecosystem right in our back yards on long island.

Emma DuNaier - Community Ambulance Company Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington

9 Despite having been a probationary member of Community Ambulance Company for quite so time now, with and without the Student Activity Fund program, I am especially proud to be a member of this department after some of the amazing things that we handled this summer. While it is quite simple to proudly take credit for positive actions, generally the most amazing accomplishments are the work of numerous people and not one alone. By something as simple and coordinating efforts to work towards the same goal, we respect our Unitarian Universalist principles, and have the ability to reach common goals we might have been incapable of obtaining on our own. In late July of this year, through a phenomenal combination of efforts, the life of a young girl in Sayville was saved after she drowned in a backyard pool. First came the combined effort of a bystander who found the young girl and the 911 dispatcher, who instructed the bystander on beginning CPR. The Police Officers who arrived on scene assisted in taking over CPR from the bystander. The Bayport Fire Department Dispatcher who was closely monitoring the radios was able to notify Community Ambulance Company several minutes earlier than the official dispatch time, allowing the ambulance to arrive even sooner. On scene, Suffolk County Police Officers and Paramedics and EMTs with CAC worked together to continue CPR and establish Advanced life support. The Suffolk County Police Department also helped expedite the ambulance’s trip to the nearest Emergency Room. The young girl is currently on her way to making a full recovery thanks to the phenomenal teamwork illustrated below as well as the actions taken by nurses and doctors in the hospital. Despite the fact that I was not involved in this amazing save, stories like this make me overwhelmingly proud of both my company and myself for being a part of an organization with such power to do good. Every time I volunteer with Community, I know that there’s always a chance that my skills and abilities could be needed in a situation like the one described above. Even if I do not have the most advanced medical knowledge, or the years of field experience that others EMTs may have, the story above makes it quite clear that not only is the way we all work together vital to accomplishing our goals, but also that each of us has value and importance from the most qualified person to the civilian bystander.

Tara DuNaier - Pal-O-Mine Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington Pal-O-Mine is a non-profit organization aimed at healing and facilitating growth in people with disabilities through work with horses. They give lessons to young and old and everyone in between. They teach riding, in motion therapy, and equine assisted psychotherapy. They work from sun up until far past the sun goes down, and they never pause to think about themselves. They love and care for all of their horses, miniature horses, Italian donkeys, goats, chickens, dogs and cats. They care for the staff, volunteers, and most importantly the students, as they care for their own families. They make a little impact in the world by making a huge difference in individual’s lives, and I’m forever grateful I got to take part in that change.

10 As a volunteer I got to participate in the lessons as a side-walker (staying along one side of the horse to assist the student as needed). My lessons would change depending on when I could come, and as such I saw hundreds of students during my time there—but two children stick out in my mind the best.

The first, a two-year-old girl, first came to us in the Fall. She was coming for In Motion Therapy and had trouble seeing and communicating, as well as being easily overwhelmed and upset. On her first lesson we walked the track around the property and then dipped into the wooded paths. Her hands were stretched out in front of her in alarm for most of the lesson, and she only stopped crying once. She would calm down when we talked to her and kept her still, but even then she wasn’t relaxed. On her second lesson she cried a little less and her hands stayed down a little longer, but she was still extremely upset for the majority of the lesson.

A few months passed after that before I saw her again. In early summer, I was put on her lesson again, but I barely recognized her. We went around the track and in the woods and the changing light under the trees didn’t faze her. The noises of the horses and the cars didn’t make her start, and when we interacted with her she looked us in the eyes. For the whole lesson, she was smiling. She wasn’t fully healed and she wasn’t ready to stop her lessons, but she was a different person, and it was a change for the better. She was happy.

The second lesson I remember the most was in the cold of last November, during the fall session of SAF. I was wearing a hat my mom had knit me that was a bright blue, with sparkling white horses going around the bottom and a big white pompom on the top. That day I had a lesson with a girl about five or six, who had problems with speech and communication in general. To work on that, we would stop the horse she was riding and wait on the track every so often until she decided she wanted to go again and communicated that to us. During one of those stops, while she was moving her head around to look at all the horses, my hat caught her eye. Without any notice she reached out and pulled it off of my head, staring at it and then promptly shoving it over her helmet. The instructor caught her, and told her that she couldn’t take things without asking first, so she should give it back to me and ask if it was okay if she wore it. So the girl pulled it off her helmet and handed it back, and then perfectly asked me if she could wear my hat. I told her she could and she took it back and pulled it down over her helmet once again, and then flashed me the biggest smile I had seen her give anything all lesson. The instructor asked if she wanted to go then, and she grinned and said “Yes, walk please!”

Though I live by our UU principles, it’s rare in the day-to-day routine to see that you’ve done something great. Working with Pal-O-Mine allowed me to do something great, and see the impact I made. Working there let me help people grow confidence and heal their past wounds and overcome their problems and working there let me change people’s lives. Every person has an inherent worth and dignity, as well as an important voice, and I got to value those things with my volunteer work.

11 Megan Goldberg - Action Against Hunger & Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office UU Congregation of Central Nassau This summer I interned at the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) and Action Against Hunger (ACF|USA) (AAH), both located in NYC. The (UU-UNO) has a “two-fold mission: (1) We engage in the work of the UN to advance a peaceful, just, sustainable and pluralistic world community that promotes human rights. (2) We engage and inspire Unitarian Universalists and others to support and participate in this work.” Action Against Hunger is the U.S. component of the international organization, Action Contre La Faim, which is committed to ending world hunger, in working to save the lives of malnourished children while providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger. Both of these organizations are excellent and provided me with the incredible opportunity to benefit my local and larger communities, in addressing diverse but extremely significant issues. While at AAH, I managed all incoming partnerships with small 3rd party companies and businesses; researched various potential corporate partners and faith-based organizations to work with, as well as any other background research for projects we worked on; created new, updated and compiled information to various databases; formatted various blog posts and documents; met with affiliated individuals who had worked in the regions AAH focuses efforts; and remained updated and knowledgeable about the statuses of the various hunger and sanitation issues AAH was working with, most recently, across South Sudan. At the UU-UNO, I created and consistently updated a congregational profile database to better understand and improve the relationships the office has with many congregations across the U.S. and Canada, updated the website and worked on various other technological updates and design, contacted and updated information of various (extremely entertaining and joyful) Envoys, attended various UN meetings and wrote blog posts about my experiences, edited and updated the UN Sunday pack sent to all participant congregations, worked with and acted as a support system for other UUUNO interns on the various projects they had taken on (including the programs that the UUUNO is currently engaged in), updated and reformatted the UUUNO brochure, created and modified various surveys to be sent to our constituents, attended to daily email communication, and assisted with various other projects and tasks! While many of my tasks are the back-end work for the more obvious and substantial actions taken by these organizations, the SAF internship experiences that I’ve had over the past few summers have shown and helped me to understand how important it is to have a solid foundation in order for these frontline actions to be the most effective and impactful as possible. While I have had many direct experiences with the constituents each of the organizations support and the issues that they tackle, I have also been able to do so very much to support these organizations to move forward in their missions to bring about real change in the community and larger world. I have further developed my research and technological skills, ability to analyze and search for underlying causes of various issues that both the organizations and I face, compassion and open-mindedness for everything around me, my professional demeanor and experience, my passion for doing good in the world, my knowledge of the world around me and the challenges that various individuals and groups are facing, and my understanding of how hard

12 people work to solve such large and overpowering issues and situations of inequality, conflict, and damage. One of the most enlightening, powerful, and memorable experiences I had was sitting in on one of the Security Council “debates” involving the conflict in Gaza. Representatives from Israel, Palestine, the U.S. and various other states voiced their opinions, concerns, and demands for the situation that was and still is occurring in the Gaza strip. I had always viewed the UN and its leaders and representatives as such powerful and superior figures, and the situations and crises discussed, many times, as issues so distant from I, but this meeting (along with the combination of all experiences I had with the UN and AAH this summer, and even more so my classes and discussions in college now) really opened my eyes to who the members of the UN and all people working for change really are. I’ve discovered that, even with superior titles, knowledge, experiences, and status, every person who is tuned into these issues is just another person trying to help the cause. These leaders and representatives can speak so eloquently and can address the specifics of issues that I could never recite back, but at the end of the day, they want to support their people, their homelands, the issues and justices that they feel passionately about, and, almost always, avoid, as much as possible, killing the billions of people who are murdered, attacked, wronged, misplaced, etc. in one way or another, either physically or emotionally. In understanding this, it is much easier for me to understand the impact that I have on the organizations I am helping and the greater good that they are working toward. If these superiors fail, so can any individual who is working for the cause, and if these leaders succeed, so can any individual with enough motivation, passion, resources (or determination to find them), and drive to change the world. It can be viewed as idealistic, and of course things may never change the way we want them to, but my experiences have shown me how important any participation toward bettering the world is and how any high and mighty leader may think, feel, and take action in the same way any other individual would. As I began to think about this idea further, and began to make connections between the values of the UUUNO, AAH, and the UN, it became even more solidified that Unitarian Universalism is rooted in so much more than faith, but in such justice-seeking, humanitarian values that are shared among all people who truly want to move our world forward in the best ways possible. We should continue to use these links as motivation to connect with others as a unified force against oppression, and truly open our eyes to diversity and the struggles that minority and oppressed groups of the world face at ALL times, aside from times of conflict or devastation. This is not a simple statement, as of course there are many people and groups in the world whose sole focuses are themselves above others, and who may take those who are different down as they pursue their goals. The clashes of the world occur because we are each fighting for a different cause with different interests in sight, but it is very likely that what we each want is for the world that we, our families, friends, and community members live in to be the best that it can be. There is much individual improvement that must be done to open the eyes, ears, and hearts of all so that these fights benefit more than just those close, and encompass the needs and rights of the global community. I was of course in a UU environment at the UUUNO, so every one of these principles was woven into the work that I did, but the same applies to my time at AAH. The sum of my experiences this summer was one of the first times where I truly was able to see our faith doing

13 great things in a larger context, how our values are basic human values of peace, security, and freedom, that exist even without religion and faith in the picture, how much I love being a UU! I am even more inspired to become a more identified UU, but really seeing the connections between these various aspects of my observations and experiences, I am even more determined to discover who I am and want to be as a global citizen in this world. The SAF program and the UU community have allowed me to pursue and engage in these experiences, but it is up to me to decide how to interpret them and best utilize what they have taught me as I move forward in my life. I will continue to develop a better and more comprehensive understanding of my own potential and the potential that our world has to be innovative in its efforts to bridge the gaps and make effective and positive progress. I will continue on my journey of personal and professional growth, even more so with the understanding that change can arise from any passionate, thoughtful, and engaged individual, and that if I continue to open my ears and eyes, engage in discussion with those around me, explore myself and my environment, and contribute to the world most beneficially as possible, I can become the person who I have the potential to become and an individual that the world could use to move forward in the direction of positive and all- encompassing progress.

Alexandra Goldsmith - Tackapausha Museum and Preserve Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington

This summer, I worked at Tackapausha Museum and Preserve in Seaford. Tackapausha is a nature center that is home to many animals that are found both on and off of Long Island, and its preserve provides a safe habitat in an increasingly developed area. It also educates the general public on the environment, animals, and natural history. My job in the museum varied. Sometimes, I worked in animal care and helped make food for and feed the resident animals, who are non-releasable and used for educational purposes. Other times, I was busy cleaning exhibits, running arts and crafts for kids, or pulling out mugwort from the butterfly garden. I did whatever I was needed to do.

Working at Tackapausha taught me that I really do love working with animals. Although I can’t say that I always enjoyed the cleaning aspect of it, spending time with animals is a rewarding experience in itself. This summer, I watched a baby opossum grow up and handled a bird of prey for the first time. I also held a brown snake that was only a few days old in the palm of my hand. But I also learned that nature isn’t pretty. Once, I was asked to give some dead mice to the owls for food. However, I just couldn’t bring myself to pick up the mice, so I had to ask someone else to do it for me. Even though watching the birds and snakes eat mice doesn’t bother me, there was just something about handling a dead animal that didn’t sit well with me.

My experience as a whole ties directly into the seventh principle, or “Respect for the Interdependent Web of Existence of Which We Are All Apart,” as well as the Environmental Justice Workshop. People are not separate from the environment: we are a part of it. Everything we do has an effect on the world around us— for better or for worse. Habitat loss is a major problem on Long Island, as is climate change and the use of harmful pesticides. At Tackapausha, I was able to see the impacts people have made on the environment first-hand. Additionally, the first principle, “The Inherit Worth and Dignity of Every Person,” is also applicable if it is 14 extended to animals as well. Many of the residents of Tackapausha were mistreated by humans or hit by cars, trains, etc., and thus cannot be returned to the wild. Just because an animal has no voice to defend itself does not mean that it should be treated cruelly.

To conclude, my time spent at Tackapausha was a worthwhile experience. The furry, scaly, and feathered friends I made this summer will always have a special place in my heart, and I hope that people will start to be more conscientious of the world around them. After all, everything we do has an impact on someone (or something) else.

Alex Greenberg – Boys and Girls Club of Glen Cove and S.T.R.O.N.G Youth Inc. UU Congregation at Shelter Rock

I have been involved with SAF for 5 years and this summer has been by far the most rewarding of them all. I feel that my past summers have led up to what I have accomplished this summer. In the past I have worked with kids and mostly been an assistant to other counselors. This summer I decided to kick it up a notch and create my own program. In the end I founded the Greenberg Skate Camp. Skateboarding has always been a big part of my life. I started skateboarding when I was 6 years old and it is a very strong foundation of who I am. I am a very big believer that children should have accessibility to individual sports and activities. While any team sport is great, the necessity of a team and organization can hold some kids back from being active. Skateboarding does not require a team or any organization. So I had the idea to introduce skateboarding to the Boys and Girls Club of Glen Cove and S.T.R.O.N.G Youth. Inc. I already had a solid foundation with the Boys and Girls Club, and S.T.R.O.N.G was very open to the idea. From there the idea was set that we would have a trial program this summer with both organizations. Now that the idea was set I got cracking on organizing and planning for the program to actually start. This seemed a lot harder than it was actually going to be. I thought raising money would be a very difficult thing but a lot of people from my community were very supportive. I created a Go-Fund me profile for the Greenberg Skate camp, which is basically a website where people can donate money to a cause. In the end I was able to raise over $700. This was more than enough get what I needed for the skate camps. Once the money was raised I got started on organizing the play by play of a session at the “Greenberg Skate Camp”. This was very easy for me because in the past I worked at a skateboard camp. Aside from building skateboarding skills it was very important to incorporate other skills into the program. The core skills I made sure were embedded into the program were self-motivation, the ability to set goals and develop self- confidence. As I was working with at-risk youth, these skills and abilities are key in preventing them from falling into risky actions such as gang violence and getting involved with drugs. After the program was ready to go, soon came the first days of the skate camp. My brother also helped instruct with me and not only did the kids have a great time, myself and my brother loved the experience. The kids were so thankful for us and honestly I could not believe 15 their gratitude. These are some very smart kids that unfortunately already know some hardship in life and were very aware of how we were helping them. By the end of the program a lot of the kids ability on the skateboard had improved, but more importantly I believe some of these kids will continue to skateboard and develop the core skills such as self-motivation, setting goals and developing self-confidence.

Danny Greenberg - Animal Lovers League and Boys and Girls Club UU Congregation at Shelter Rock This summer was my first time participating in the Student Activity Fund. I must say I truly had a successful outcome in finding an enjoyable place to work and gaining experience from my work. The two agencies’ I chose to work for were the Glen Cove Animal Lovers League and the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club. The Animal Lovers League received most of my hours this summer and really made me feel useful. Every time I came to work the employees seemed relieved to see me and always let me know that they appreciated my help. This encouraged me to do and even better job and made me feel like a needed member. My duties included cleaning cat cages, sweeping the floor, washing dishes, doing laundry, and various other things. From this agency I definitely walked away with learning something. What I learned is that these types of agencies really need help from organizations like the Student Activity Fund. Everyday this agency works very hard to keep all their animals safe and healthy. Along with that I noticed with more help the organization could be much better off. As for this internship relating to the 7 UU Principles and Purposes and whether or not it strengthened or changed my Unitarian Universalist values and beliefs, I’ll first start with it absolutely strengthened my Unitarian Universalist values and beliefs. I felt that when just thinking of my internship experience it related directly too “the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.” And of course this being and Animal Shelter directly correlates with “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Those two from our 7 UU principles I felt directly related to this internship. My next internship which was at the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club was extremely fulfilling. The story behind me working at the Boys and Girls Club starts with my brother starting a skate club that both he and I would instruct. This experience was honestly a dream come true. My brother and I grew up skating together but I never knew I would be instructing a whole class on how to do it. The program was a great success and it was so nice to see how much the kids enjoyed it. Hearing these kids cheer each other on and tell me how much they appreciated me teaching them really made me feel amazing. A particular moment caught my attention when three boys explained their elaborate plan to get sponsored and become pro skaters. Talking with these kids and hearing them out got me so happy. It was at this moment I felt that my brother and I were really accomplishing something through the program. The idea behind teaching these kids how to skate was to give them a hobby that they can thoroughly get engaged in and can keep them away from gang violence and drugs. So after hearing these three kids explain this plan I felt that we were succeeding in that.

16 As for the 7 UU principles the Boys and Girls internship related most to “The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all,” and “acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.” Overall from the boys and girls club I really walked away with an experience teaching kids, something that I had never done before. Along with the Animal Lovers League I walked away with a lot of respect and appreciation for agencies like them. I was very happy to be a part of the Student Activity Fund and look forward to continuing!

Hannah Iversen – Vermont Festival of the Arts UU Congregation at Shelter Rock When I decided to change my major to Art History halfway through my sophomore year of college, I wanted to find a summer experience that would be relevant to my studies, as well as my interests. I found the Vermont Festival of the Arts to be exactly the kind of summer experience I was looking for. This Festival had given me the opportunity to be a part of the several aspects that bring this nonprofit organization together for the community such as setting up events, selling merchandise, and leading art tours. Not only was I assisting the Art Festival, but also I was given the chance to docent for an art exhibition that tied together feminism and racism themes, which were then framed into a religious context. Janet Mckenzie’s art has been viewed by audiences around the world as controversial, yet iconic, because of these progressive themes, and the goal of this exhibition was to increase this public accessibility with Vermont. I was able to contribute to the art exhibition, as well as to the Art Festival, assistance with visitor’s questions as well as their enthusiasm to learn more. Not only did I welcome guests into each event, but provided support in their interests for learning more about specific artists, painterly styles, and personal experiences that had influenced each of their art’s creations. What I learned from these internships is how enthusiastic people are to learning and opening their minds to new concepts. Janet Mckenzie’s art was considered controversial, but no visitor ever criticized her inspirations and themes, instead they welcomed her creativity and ideals. One specific experience I had during this exhibition was when Janet Mckenzie was having a reception with her docents. She told a story about how several of her exhibitions have not been welcomed in parts of the United States thus receiving negative comments, harsh criticisms, and even death threats. It wasn’t the criticisms that I found to be a problem due to the fact that anyone has the right to their own opinion, but death threats are incomparable and too extreme. This really showed me how far away just the United States is from achieving universal acceptance of one another. These internship experiences related to the UU principle 7, to respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Everyone I met was so respectful of Janet Mckenzie’s originality and individuality, which she had explained to us, was not always inherent during several of her public exhibitions. She could have decided to not continue displaying her art around the world due to this negativity, but instead focused on the refreshing and encouraging opinions instead. My internship experiences taught me a lot about social justice, mainly because of the racial and feminist themes and overtones Janet portrayed in her work, and how that would then affect each individual viewer. It taught me that interpretation is completely

17 left up to the viewer; that social justice is something we all strive for, but it is up to the individual to change their own thinking and actions in order to achieve this goal of social, economic, and political equality. I wish I could do it all over again and I would definitely recommend this internship to anyone, especially someone who is interested in bringing the community together through food, art, music, and activities!

Lisa Kremen - Rosa Lee Young Children’s Center and African Impact UU Congregation at Shelter Rock This summer I worked with two different organizations: African Impact and Rosa Lee Young Children’s Center. I was really fortunate to be a part of each and felt that I had a very direct impact on the success of the organizations’ goals. Rosa Lee Young is a non-profit early education and daycare center, at which I was an assistant teacher in a pre-k class. It was amazing to see the progress of the kids’ behaviors and abilities over the few months I worked with them, and I was happy to be there for them and for their families. They all come from families that are in tough economic situations, and it is so nice that the parents can get subsidized child care and two meals a day provided to their kids. The organization was tight on staff, so whenever someone was on vacation or called in sick I had an even more important role in making the classroom run smoothly, which the administrators were so appreciative of. Working with this organization reinforced my opinion that children are so worth investing time and work into, especially early in development, because they all have so much potential and just need the resources to succeed. My other internship was with African Impact and was located in Cape Town, South Africa. I worked on a variety of projects within the organization, all with the objective of providing services to the children in the townships surrounding the city. The township I worked in, called Khayelitsha, has a population of between 2 and 4 million people and is made up mostly of impermanent housing. Despite the circumstances that to me seemed extremely difficult, the people were some of the warmest and happiest people I’ve ever met and were truly inspirational. In the mornings I worked at a short-term emergency care orphanage called Fikelela, and I had two main roles there. First, I worked on creating individualized developmental plans for each child, ie. what motor, social, cognitive activities should be implemented based on their age and developmental delays. All of the children were between 0 and 4 years old, and all were HIV positive and infected with Tuberculosis. Most had severe delays in development due to medicines, long hospital stays, and histories of neglect or abuse. In my months stay, I witnessed the orphan home taking in at least 4 new infants because they were abandoned at hospitals or churches nearby. However, I also got to witness two children get reunified with their families, which was a very uplifting experience. My other role in the orphanage was as the “healthcare volunteer.” I helped the “mamas” take children to their appointments at the local clinic, being that only one mama could leave the orphanage but 4 or 5 children could be going to clinic. I also was able to make important decisions about when children were sick enough to need emergency care. I am grateful that I was able to fill this role because the orphanage was understaffed and it was very easy for a high fever or difficult breathing to go unnoticed. I also learned a lot from being a clinic, where we would sit for 4 hours waiting for our appointment since the public hospitals are so poorly resourced and run. Before this I had not thought much about the disparity in medical care between private and public hospitals, and how those more fortunate have access 18 to much better and faster service. I saw so many dramatic improvements in health and in ability in many of the children, which made every day I was there so exciting and made me so motivated to give them as much love and care as I could while I was there. The hardest part about this job was leaving, knowing that when we go home there are 4 mamas to 20 children and that there’s little time to give any individual attention. However, the mamas were the most amazing and motivational women that I’ve ever met and I fully trust in them to always care for and love each child. My afternoon project with African Impact was with a wonderful organization called GAPA, which stands for Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS. This started because there is a generation of grandmothers that end up caring for their children’s children because the AIDS epidemic hit the middle generation the hardest. A group of amazing grandmothers got together and started an afterschool program, because the highest incidence of abuse and destructive behavior happen in the afterschool hours. We run all of the activities at the program, which include sports, dancing, theatre, arts and crafts, workshops, etc. This program was for kids in grade school, and on some days I would tutor high school students in math and English instead. All of the kids were so amazing and I was so happy to have contributed to making GAPA a fun safe-haven for them to spend their afternoons. I was truly impacted by the selflessness of the grandmothers who spend all of their time and energy trying to create safe spaces for the children in the township, and they are an amazing example of how if people with the same goals come together they can make a really big impact. I think that both of my internship experiences this summer served to strengthen my beliefs in the UU principles. They definitely enhanced my view on the inherent worth of every person, because I was able to travel half way across the world to meet the most amazing people and feel that every single one of them was so important. Justice, equity, and compassion were goals of both of the organizations; both were trying to help the children we worked with achieve equity in education and in their care, and provided them with so much compassion that they would’ve lacked due to their circumstances. Being in a community so different from my own taught me a lot about acceptance, because I was the outsider and I looked and spoke so differently, but the community members welcomed me with so much warmth and love anyway. Overall, my experiences strengthened my motivation for achieving a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all, because I was able to see that every human being deserves these things, and seeing how groups could come together and take small steps towards this goal was inspiring and really motivational. I hope to continue taking steps towards this world of peace and justice in the future. Thank you to the SAF program for making these wonderful experiences possible!

19 20 Sherifa Kurjakovic - Garden City Environmental Center UU Congregation at Shelter Rock Thanks to Student Activity Fund instead of working at a grocery store I was able to spend my summer on a beautiful garden/bird sanctuary/environmental center, with some incredible people. My favorite working name of this organization is the Alvey Arboretum, named after its creator, Robert Alvey. Twenty years ago Robert decided the plot of land two blocks down from his house had a much bigger potential than simply to serve as the towns sump, and together with an eagle scout transformed the land into a recognized park. Geared towards the needs of local and migratory birds, this park serves as a haven for wildlife and humans alike, and teaches its visitors how important even a backyard is to the environment. From endless paper work, balancing budgets, and maintaining the park, this man does it all (and then some) while working two other jobs. I was so grateful to be working with such an inspiring man, who taught me how much of a difference one person really can make. Besides being able to spend my time outside in this summer’s awesome weather, I made money working in the dirt – a check off my bucket list! My contributions to the garden were really satisfying, after working hard all day I could (usually) stand back and see how my work paid off. For example, I planted and maintained various flowers, trees, and bushes, and helped install a pond. Plenty of things seemed endless and fruitless, such as the days on days of weeding invasive plants which would inevitably reappear over the weekend, likewise clearing the overwhelming amount of trash flooded in from the streets of Garden City. Another area I felt I really aided the agency with was volunteer spirit. About 90% of the “volunteers” at the center were actually state mandated to contribute a certain amount of hours of community service. In actuality I was one of the few members of the center that had the choice to participate. I think for those doing mandatory hours it helps to see the importance of what their doing, not just the punishment. Although this agency was centered on protecting and contributing to local environment, with a low person-to-person contact, the summer camp aspect brought in all 7 of UU principles. The camp program was very short, only about three weeks total, but the incorruption of each principle occurred regularly every day. This program was basically a science camp for the children (ages 5-8 years old) and on a daily basis my co-counselors and I had the pleasure to answer any of the awesome questions the children the children could think of. As anyone who has ever worked with children, you know how endless those can be – as well as entertaining. As the UU’s say, everyone has the right and responsibility for the search for truth and meaning, and we did our best to answer every question thrown our way. With each argument that popped up between kids in comes our principle that each person should be valued, accepted (even the copy catters!), and be treated fairly. And of course, at science camp we learn the value of all lives and the respect the interdependent of all existence commands. My time at the Garden City Environmental Center directly related to this year’s environment focus. At our SAF meeting we talked about the importance to take a stand against the continuous exploitation and abuse of our planet. We learned about the various ways this abuse is happening, from individual pollution (such as pesticides, gasoline, and large amount of garbage) to

21 commercial sized. I spent a very large chunk of the summer clearing trash that had overflowed into the town’s basin, but regardless of how many bags I filled with garbage there was always more. We also tried to impress upon our visitors how damaging their fertilizer and pesticide use are on the environment, and how important each yard is to the local wildlife, how helpful a friendly one can be to wildlife. It’s easy to be convinced one person can’t possibly compete against the thousands and millions wreaking havoc on our environment, but when I start feeling overwhelmed I think of my supervisor, who single handedly created this haven out of a town sump, and I am reminded of what a difference one person can make.

Katharine Lynch - Sweetbriar Nature Center, Smithtown NY Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook. I spent this summer working at Sweetbriar Nature Center, a non-profit nature preserve and environmental education center in Smithtown, NY. Sweetbriar maintains a property with a small museum and other exhibits, additionally providing wildlife rehabilitation and long term care to injured animals, programming to school groups during the year, and nine weeks of summer camp, among many other community events and services. My internship was with the summer camps, helping to plan and implement environmental lessons and activities for children ages 5 to 11. During the camp day I acted as educator, facilitator and assistant to make sure that the camps ran smoothly. I worked this summer specifically with two principles in mind; the first and the seventh. Working at an environmental center, “respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part” was relevant to everything I did. Much of my work this summer was about bringing children back into nature and giving them the time and space to explore and play in a natural setting while also teaching them about the plants and animals they were seeing. Most children spend all their time in structured, adult-guided activities and are rarely given the opportunity to truly be present in a natural setting. This is a huge problem, not only on an individual level, with children not forming a strong connection to nature, but on a large scale, because children who do not love and understand nature will not grow up into adults that will work to save it. “In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught” is a quote by environmentalist Baba Dioum commonly used in conservation circles. By reconnecting children with nature and helping them to see wild animals up close, we are teaching them to love and understand the nature that surrounds them, helping to shape the next generation of caring citizens and environmentalists. One of our most popular activities was “Meet an Animal,” where the campers would be able to see one of Sweetbriar's resident animals up close and learn about its special adaptations and why it was there. Many of the animals have been injured by humans, through car accidents or pesticide use, and the children were always amazed to see them and learn their stories. It was amazing to see how fascinated the campers were meeting a box turtle or a rabbit, no matter how many times they had seen it before. I feel that the work I did this summer helped the campers realize that they are part of an interdependent web. The first principle also played a role in my internship this summer. As an adult working with children, it can be easy to start to see them just as a group that needs to be herded from

22 activity to activity, without seeing the individuals. I am always pleasantly surprised when I truly stop and talk with my campers by how deeply they are thinking and how much they have to contribute to the conversation. When we say that we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, that means that we also need to take the time to really listen to and respect the input and opinions of young people. Giving each child the deep and individualized attention that they deserve is vital to demonstrate to them that they are valued and important. Working at Sweetbriar was a very positive experience, and I learned and gained experience in environmental education, a field that I am very interested in going into. I am deeply grateful to SAF for funding this internship.

Susana Lyons-Kiang - Alley Pond Environmental Center UU Congregation of Central Nassau This was my second year working at Alley Pond Environmental Center, fondly known as APEC. My job consisted of caring for and socializing the animals so they would be comfortable around children, and assisting the teacher in conducting environmental classes for young children. The animals they use for teaching at APEC include rabbits, doves, snakes, a tarantula, bearded dragons, lizards, and, by the end of the summer, my two red-footed tortoises. I donated them to APEC just before I left for college, knowing they would be well-cared for and given a lot of attention. The day I left they went on the road for an educational event, and that made me happy and lessened the sadness of leaving them. I felt I was able to contribute more as a teacher and a leader of the other youth volunteers than I was last year. I was aware of how much more comfortable and knowledgeable I felt this year about animal needs and behavior, environmental issues in general, and the functioning of the agency itself. What a pleasure to return to a nurturing and familiar work setting, and to be warmly greeted by the staff! By the end of the summer, I was given responsibility for directing the other volunteers. I also felt I was more effective as a teaching assistant, and I was able to teach important concepts about nature and environmentalism to the children in my class. I was fascinated to learn that some of the 4 and 5 year-olds did not know the difference between living and non-living entities and needed basic information as a starting point. One of the most important things I learned from my experience was the striking difference in the emotional tone of various work settings. I briefly tried out another setting in a mental health agency that involved clerical work. The formality and lack of camaraderie made me realize that the social culture of the work place is very important to me. I also noticed that settings that involve nature, animals, and environmental advocacy tend to attract people that are down to earth, warm and easy-going: the kind of people I want to be surrounded by. I am learning from each experience that I have. I am identifying what is important to me in a work setting, and learning to trust my gut about what is right for me personally. These insights and “Aha” moments are also bolstering my confidence about my choice of college (Environmental Science and Forestry), and my choice of field (conservation biology). I think this kind of work and the people in this field will be a good fit for me.

23 The Unitarian Principles emphasize the worth and dignity of “every person”. I would broaden that to include “every creature”. I am inspired by Albert Schweitzer, who encouraged love, compassion, and respect for all of God's creation: for people, for animals, and for the environment. In his words, "Any religion or philosophy which is not based on a respect for life is not a true religion or philosophy. We need a boundless ethic which will include the animals also.” I try to live by that belief as much as possible. This, of course leads to the seventh Principle: respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. I believe that working to protect animals, to inspire children to appreciate and cherish all creatures, and to develop a fascination for the lives and care of animals is a step toward strengthening the interdependent web of life of which we are a part.

Dana Majewski - Community Mainstreaming Associates UU Congregation at Shelter Rock For my third summer of participating in the Student Activity Fund, I interned at Community Mainstreaming Associates. This organization provides services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The main services CMA provides are residential and vocational. CMA has twelve residences for adults to live in and also helps around 40 individuals in community based support programs. Instead of working directly with the people who the organization serves, I worked “behind the scenes” in the development office learning how a non- profit runs. Throughout the summer, I mailed approximately 10,000 letters, emailed around 300 people, and posted about 50 items to Facebook and Twitter. While it wasn’t exactly riveting work, it was what the organization needed, and I was happy to be able to help. My favorite part about the summer was being in charge of CMA’s social media presence. When I started my internship, their Facebook and Twitter accounts were rarely used and scarcely followed. However, throughout the summer I came up with creative ways to increase likes and activity. One of such ways was by having a random drawing for four tickets to Comedy Night (an event I helped plan throughout the summer) for anyone who liked the Facebook page. By the end of my time at CMA their Facebook account had 230 likes, and people were actively involved with my posts. It is nice to know that something that I did this summer will continue to raise money and awareness for the adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that CMA helps. My understanding of the second UU principle, “justice, equity and compassion in human relations,” was strengthened throughout my time at CMA. Everyone at the organization was extremely dedicated to the individuals that they serve. In some ways, Community Mainstreaming was like a large family. The two people who I worked directly with in the development office, knew all of the names of the residents, as well as their likes, dislikes, and where they lived. Furthermore, throughout the summer, I got to know a few people with developmental disabilities who were in the “working together program” and were working at CMA. All of the other employees treated them the same as everyone else despite their disabilities. There was never a moment where I witnessed anyone being treated as less than someone else.

24 Although this summer definitely had moments when there was nothing to do, this experience, all in all, was a great way to spend a summer. It taught me the basics in event planning, fundraising, social media, and secretarial work. CMA is a great organization that really helps many individuals and helped me start on my path to a successful career in marketing.

Aaron Miner - Long Island Children’s Museum UU Congregation at Shelter Rock Working for the SAF, I had the option of working for tons of amazing causes. People in the past have worked to fight hunger, end poverty, save the earth, or promote important social causes. With so many choices, trying to pick where to work this summer was extremely difficult. But I am grateful I ended up at the Long Island Children’s Museum, because it allowed me to both work towards a great cause and help me experience working in a professional environment for a field that interests me. I learned this summer that I love working with children. Each and every day, I found great joy teaching kids who might not have had the opportunity to receive the type of hands on educational experience they got at the museum. One of my favorite memories came from working in the garden, where we teach the kids about nature and the importance of protecting the environment. I was out there one day, and I had a kid who just wouldn’t stop asking questions. About every insect, flower, bee, and man- made structure. He just had a light in his eyes and a curiosity that couldn’t be sated. I spent hours explaining why plants grew and what bees normally do. Walking around with him and just watching him learn was an experience I’ll never forget. I felt a great joy in being able to teach another person, in being able to give out information that would affect another human being. Because as important as any cause is, nothing will be accomplished unless we teach our kids to be kind and intelligent adults. The first step to achieving an important goal like saving our environment is to make sure that every person understands how the environment works. And the easiest and best way to do that is by teaching our children, especially those that might not have someone to teach them outside of school or programs like these.

Just making a small contribution to a cause, like teaching a child about the importance of protecting our environment, made me feel connected to my UU values and beliefs. Most importantly, it made me think of the UU principle espousing a free and responsible search for truth. The child I had met was searching for answers, for the truth about nature and the environment. Even though I don’t know all the answers and don’t have the right to say for certain that I know the truth, the importance of teaching comes in giving people the information, mindset, and belief in searching out the truth. Too many people forget to search for truth, and settle for either accepting what their told, or living in ignorance. An entire generation of children needs to be set on the path of searching for truth. And it’s important that nobody, no child, is left out because there isn’t someone or something to help start them on their way. I’m proud to have spent my summer working through the SAF and the Long Island Children’s Museum to help teach kids from all areas and backgrounds about the importance of searching for the truth.

William Morris - Smith Haven Ministries Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook 25 This summer I worked for the Smith Haven Ministries, an interfaith organization dedicated to the alleviation of poverty on Long Island. My internship consisted of the renovation and redesigning of the Ministries website. The internet is today one of the most important and widely accessible vehicles of social mobility, so this work was particularly relevant to the goals of the Ministries and in line with UU values. As web designer for the Ministries, I made it my primary goal to make the existing website more streamlined and user-friendly, as well as to work on building a new one from scratch for more design flexibility. Throughout the design process, I collaborated with the president and executive director on new ideas and confirmation of ideas of my own. I think my work is pertinent to the second and sixth Principles, especially “equity…in human relations” and “the goal of world community,” in that it helps people achieve social equity and thereby promotes a wider community of liberated people that can work together. The Ministries is dedicated to helping people living in poverty on Long Island, and although not everyone in need may know about the Ministries, most people have some way of accessing the internet, even if only from the public library. Therefore, it is important for the Ministries to have a visible online presence and easily navigable online resources, because it makes it easier for those in need to learn about the diverse variety of services that the Ministries offers. With respect to the environmental justice workshops, my work is relevant because in the age of climate change causing a greater frequency of extreme temperatures and weather, homelessness is an even bigger problem. People who don’t have a place to stay are among the hardest hit when a natural disaster strikes, for example. The Ministries can help by providing shelter for those in need of it, but there obviously needs to be proactive steps taken to combat climate change. During my internship, I didn’t just learn a thing or two about web design and scripting. I also learned how widespread and close to home poverty really is. In 2012, the Ministries provided services to 15,788 people, and that’s just one organization in a relatively small area. If that’s how many people needed services in one year in the general area of the Ministries, a suburb, one realizes how many people must be in poverty throughout the country, and it’s really eye-opening. The original website with some of my revisions can be found at www.theministriesonline.org, and the new one at www.ministrieslongisland.wordpress.com

Mara Moss – Franklin Park Conservatory Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington

This summer I interned at Franklin Park Conservatory in the Education Department as their Dietetics intern. I interned from June to August 2014 on several programs that integrated nutrition, horticulture and community development. Franklin Park Conservatory serves to create community, educate and elevate quality of life of those living in greater Franklin County area through a horticultural angle. Franklin Park Conservatory is partly a public space, where anyone can go to explore the grounds, have lunch or play with their children. The park also has 5 indoor biomes, which 26 display different plants from different regions of the world. The Conservatory has several programs that engage those on EBT/ SNAP, Volunteers of America, etc. As such, Franklin Park serves a dual purpose, to aid in community development of Franklin County and to entertain those of whom who have come to see its attractions. I worked on three major programs during my time at the Conservatory. Every Wednesday I would set up, help facilitate, and take down the Farmers’ Market. The Farmers’ Market at Franklin Park Conservatory participates in the Franklin County Veggie SNAPs program, in which up to $10 of SNAP/ EBT dollars spent are matched. At the market I interacted with different farmers and helped them fill out the necessary paperwork, including paperwork that allowed them to sell their food for SNAP/EBT. I also would scan customers’ Ohio Direction cards and give them the appropriate amount of Veggie SNAPs tokens. Through my work at the Farmers’ Market I became fairly conversant in SNAP/ EBT legislation and the Veggie SNAPs Program. The second project I worked on with the Conservatory was the Harvest Program. The Harvest Program is an educational program in which families with at least one child under 5 who additionally qualify for SNAP/ EBT learned how to cook with fresh, organic produce. The participants learned how to cook recipes that were plant- based and low in fat. In addition to the cooking class itself, families involved with the Harvest Program would receive a large bag of produce each week. All of the produce distributed was organically grown at the Conservatory. My work at the Harvest Program foremost included the inspection and distribution of the different produce into the families’ bags. Secondly, I would run a separate kids’ activity while the adults learned different cooking techniques. The activity varied per week, but included herb gathering, food art, and salsa making. Each kids’ activity would have a small nutrition lesson built in. The nutrition lesson was typically based on a particular vitamin, and different types of fruits /veggies /colors that that vitamin could be found in. Lastly, I would help the Education Department with the various summer camps. Each week there would be a different camp, with themes ranging from botany, biology, international cuisine to art. I would help with set- up/ cleanup, the various activities, and managing the children. Outside of these projects, I would help maintain the Education Garden. I would weed, water and, sometimes, harvest the plants. Through my work at Franklin Park Conservatory, I gained a far greater understanding of horticulture, permaculture and agriculture. I learned how to care for different types of plants, the use of fertilizers versus organic processes and how to harvest different crops. I learned different interactions between insects/ wildlife on plants, particularly the importance of pollinators. My internship also improved my nutritional knowledge; I could explain how food goes from farm to fork and the importance of proper nutrition to both children and adults. My work at the Conservatory was most closely related to the 1st, 6th and 7th Unitarian Universalist principles. At its core my internship aimed to help members of the Franklin County community understand the importance of proper nutrition for themselves and their families. As such the Conservatory strongly believes in the 1st principle, The inherent worth and dignity of every person. Every citizen deserves the access and education to make good nutritional decisions.

27 My work at the Conservatory was also related to Food Justice, the right of communities to grow, sell and eat healthy food. In this definition, healthy food is not only nutritious; it is grown in a way that cares for the land, workers and animals that it uses. Food Justice works toward food systems that ensure justice and liberty for all. As such my work at the conservatory was related to the 6th Principle, the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. At the Conservatory’s community gardens, anyone in Franklin County could start a plot. There were special raised beds for children and for those with disabilities. The Conservatory also offered a range of classes to teach members of the community how to grow food, and how to cook it. Some of the classes had a fee, but that money was pooled to supply the funding for other free programs. One of these free programs was the Harvest Program, which I co-ran, that taught those on SNAP/WIC/EBT cooking basics. Lastly, my work at the Conservatory was intrinsically tied to the 7th Principle, respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The Conservatory emphasized farm- to- fork agricultural practices, and all of the plots in the community gardens were organic. Additionally, the Conservatory’s education programs were biologically based, and taught community how bugs, insects and animals are related to plants, and how these systems are important to humans. My work with the Harvest Program included teaching short nutrition classes to the children as the parents cooked. In these classes I tried to integrate nutritional theory, with biology/ zoology and simple mathematics. The children were anywhere from 5 to 11 years old. One lesson that I felt was valuable was a lesson I taught on pollinators and their importance. I taught the children about bees and how they pollinate a wide variety of plants. We went on a walking tour around the community garden, and I had the children pick out different plants that bees’ pollinate. The children got to try different varieties of honey, and at the end of the class each of the families got to bring home a jar. Many of the children had never tried honey before, and saw bees as scary bugs. They did not know that bees were important to plants and that humans rely on bees for a variety of products. This lesson taught the children firsthand the interconnectivity of biological systems and the importance of protecting the environment. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent interning at Franklin Park Conservatory as their Dietetics intern. On the whole, my work at the Conservatory worked to cultivate a community around health lifestyles. Through the Harvest Program and SNAP/ EBT component of the Farmers’ Market I helped improve fresh food access to those of lower socioeconomic status. My work at the Conservatory put my Unitarian Universalist values into practice, and I actively worked toward achieving Food Justice for all members of Franklin County.

Hannah Schlechter - Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Central Nassau

My time at the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office has been a very rewarding one, full of new experiences and new friends. Overall I learned a lot about the organization I interned for, and a lot about the different issues they advocate for on a daily basis. I learned all about the Uni-

28 tarian Universalist United Nations Office, how it runs, a lot about the staff there, and what exact- ly it does. I also had the opportunity to learn a little bit about all the programs in the office, Every Child is Our Child, Commission on the Status of Women, LGBTQ rights, and Climate Change. The office has done extensive research, panels, and events in relation to all the topics. During my internship I wrote up event summaries for the meetings I attended, wrote a blog about the Indige- nous People’s Forum, redid the UN Sunday packet for envoys and congregations to use, com- piled lists and trained other interns in how to make calls to envoys to update our databases.

During my internship I got the opportunity to attend the United Nations Indigenous People’s Rights Forum the first two weeks. During that time I attended dozens of side events, meetings, held by all different organizations ranging from Conservation International to Amnesty Interna- tional to the Department of Public Information. All of the meetings focused on a different topic regarding indigenous people’s rights and representation. I learned more about Indigenous Peo- ples and their rights than I could ever had in any other setting.

One specific example at my internship that was particularly educational and rewarding occurred during a meeting at the UN Indigenous People’s Forum. The meeting was hosted by Conserva- tion International and focused on their programs and how important it is to listen to indigenous people when it comes to land use and conservation. One of their programs went into different ar- eas and taught the locals how to most effectively conserve, but included both men and women. I stood up and asked a question at the end about how does culture in these areas serve as a barrier to your goal of getting both men and women involved in these efforts. The head moderator di- rected me towards a woman sitting right next to me who was the Gender Specialist for Conserva- tion International. After talking to the woman after the meeting, getting her thoughts, and finding out she lived and worked at their headquarters right by my university in DC, I had completed my first professional networking attempt. Getting my first business card and emailing her later thank her was one of the most rewarding experiences ever.

Being that the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office is a direct reflection of Unitarian Universalist values at the United Nations, everything I did at my internship related to the seven UU principles in some way. This office advocates mostly for human rights to ensure everyone is treated with justice, equity, compassion, and acceptance. I worked specifically on Indigenous Rights and Representation which correlates with our first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh principle directly. Overall, my Unitarian Universalist values were definitely strengthened during my internship. It was very easy to see how all of the values of UUism and the work that this of- fice does are so closely connected. It was a great opportunity to be able to reconnect to Unitarian Universalism while doing work I was genuinely passionate about, after a year away at college without it.

I think that the Environmental Justice Workshop was very relevant to some of the work that the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office does. One of their core programs is climate change and how the United Nations and their office can help to change the course we are on right now, destroying our environment. While I did not work on this program specifically, I learned a lot from fellow interns who were focusing on the topic.

Overall my experience at the UU UNO was quite rewarding and influential, the staff and fellow

29 interns were amazing and I could not have asked for a better summer experience.

Madeleine Schwab - Let’s Get Ready Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock

For the second summer in a row, I worked for the non-profit educational organization, Let’s Get Ready. As a Coach, I was responsible for teaching the SAT to a group of low-income high school juniors and seniors. Each week I met with my students and reviewed different portions of the SAT Math section. I personalized my lessons to my students’ backgrounds. Although all of my students were in 11th and 12th grade, they each had different strengths and weaknesses. Because the class was not too large, I was able to give each student personalized attention, making sure that every student was able to complete their homework.

In addition to being their teacher, I was also encouraged by the organization’s directors to act as the students’ college mentor. The last hour of my three-hour lesson was focused on the college admissions process. I advised my students on successful admissions strategies – i.e. how to apply for financial aid, how to highlight their extracurricular to give them a competitive advantage, etc. My students took advantage of this time to ask me questions about the college process and college life.

Let’s Get Ready aims to lessen the effects of income disparity on educational opportunity. The program offers this class to students whose parents cannot afford to hire private tutors or send them to expensive SAT classes. Additionally, because many of my students will be first- generation college students, their parents may not be knowledge about the college process. I hope that I not only taught my students the necessary skills but I hope I also gave them the confidence and motivation to apply to college confidently.

This experience gave me the chance to improve my leadership and presentation skills, as I was responsible for teaching a group of students. Additionally, this experience showed me how much more difficult and intimidating the college process is for low-income students. Between navigating the financial aid process and taking the SAT with high-end tutoring, they face many more obstacles than their peers.

While I hope that I was able to inspire my students, my students inspired me as well. Their strong motivation, especially given the difficulties some of them endured even in just traveling to the program’s site, was incredibly admirable. Over the summer most teenagers would prefer to be somewhere other than studying for the SAT, yet they came to class and completed their homework. In particular, I remember one class I mentioned that I could assign some extra optional practice problems. I was pleasantly surprised to see how positively my students received this idea.

I believe that two UU principles relate to my experience working with Let’s Get Ready: the inherent worth and dignity of every person and justice, and equity and compassion in human relations. Let’s Get Ready ultimate premise is to minimize the existence of educational inequality as a result of income inequality.

30 Rebecca Silverman - Save-a-Pet Animal Shelter Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock I've been volunteering at Save-a-pet over the last four years on a weekly basis over the summer, but this summer SAF has given me the opportunity to work at Save-a-Pet three to four days a week. This experience has been wonderful, as volunteering usually is. I feel like I have a lot to contribute to Save-a-Pet on two different levels. The first is that I help out the staff with both the animals and other tasks, whether online or cleaning, and this saves them time and allows them to take care of their own work or help out the clients. I also feel like I really help with the animals. A lot of people are scared of animals, even some of the adult volunteers are. They want to help, but sometimes don't know how, or don't know when an animal is playing or fighting. Luckily I've been around animals of all shapes and sizes my entire life and I'm very comfortable around them. I often clean the cages of some of the more 'difficult' cats, and they often show affection to me. I also love to help make the frightened kittens more social. Usually when kittens are first dropped off, they are very scared and skittish, but within a week, they'll be playing with all of the volunteers. This I feel ties into our principle of 'the inherent worth and dignity of every person'. Although animals are not technically people, something that I truly believe and so does Save-a- Pet, is that every single animal is worth saving. I've learned how to deal with cats and kittens, how to approach them, and also how to show people not to be afraid. I particularly remember one cat who I would pet every day. This cat was black and had a mean expression, and was not what everyone would call cute. He often stayed in the back corner of his cage and watched all of the volunteers. I made it my goal to befriend him. Every time I came there I made sure that I pet him, and slowly he began to recognize me and would enthusiastically jump down from his bed and roll over so I could pet him. I could hardly believe that this was the same cat that an adult volunteer had said was 'mean'. This truly shows how smart and intuitive animals are. It was a very bittersweet moment when I came in and the black cat was not there, but I found out that he had been adopted, after being there for years. It really showed me that you only have to approach an animal with love, and they will show love in return. Our seventh principle also relates to the work that Save-a-Pet does; "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part". Save-a-Pet often rescues animals from high-kill shelters where they were on list to be euthanized. Overpopulation is a major problem in a lot of shelters, but fostering allows Save-a-Pet to always find room. I think that respect for animals, especially domesticated animals is something that is lacking in the world, with all of the puppy stores and puppy mills. Working firsthand with some of the shaking animals rescued from situations like this is heartbreaking, but it has been an enlightening experience to help open up these animals to love and kindness. Save-a-Pet is really a remarkable shelter and place to adopt a pet, and I have been and will continue to volunteer there in the future.

Adam Soo - One Flushing UU Congregation of Queens 31 From late June until August, I worked at a community development center in downtown Flushing called One Flushing. The organization worked on public projects that would eventually promote better policy making within the local government, which mostly promoted economic equality especially with immigrants. I chose to work at this agency because I grew up with a lot of my peers having immigrant parents or being immigrants themselves. To me promoting economic equality is incredibly important and is definitely an ideal held within the seven Unitarian Universalist principles. When I started at One Flushing I was a survey volunteer; my supervisor was a recent graduate of the University at Albany and I would come in, go out to take surveys for our research project and then leave. To be honest, I felt like I was accomplishing nothing by showing up to One Flushing every day. Eventually I started asking my supervisor for more work, hoping to feel like I was making a difference. Each day was a baby step, I would try to take on more tasks and by the end of it I became very involved in the projects. This involvement lead to my boss, Mr. Choe, promoting me to assistant project manager and eventually lead project manager. Part of being project manager included working on one of the projects the organization ran through social media called “Faces of Flushing” (instagram@greaterflushing). I took a series of pictures of average people walking around Flushing and asked them questions about what they liked most about the area. The goal of the project was to promote more business for small businesses and local restaurants. This project was definitely my favorite project out of all of them because not only did it promote economic growth, but it also let me give people the feeling that they were special. Working at One Flushing definitely taught me a lot of things, mostly learning the assets of being a good leader. As a project manager, I had to supervise and manage volunteers that would go out to give surveys that would help with the research project, which at first seemed like an easy task but eventually it became quite difficult. Volunteers were not required to come in on a regular basis so I had to figure out time schedules and hours in advance for each volunteer and manage what times were best to go out for survey taking. I also had to check up on volunteers to see their progress and to see how I could help them improve. From this I learned that you have to have patience, that you need to be kind and that you need to be understanding. I began organizing meetings that would allow volunteers to reflect on their experiences and each time I would make a small improvement to how we dealt with volunteers. This internship related to three of the seven Unitarian Universalist principles, the first, second and sixth principles to be exact. The organization promoted the economic and social equality of all peoples, including legal and illegal immigrants. Seeing how my boss and supervisors dealt with a lot of different people working for this economic and social justice really changed my mind about the world. It became evident to me that there are a lot of people that are willing to change the world for the better and it lead me to make better decisions in and out of the office. Overall, I think that this internship was a really great experience and I am definitely considering doing more non-profit economic development work in the future.

Corey Soong - Wild Bird Fund UU Congregation at Shelter Rock

32 My internship this year through SAF was at the Wild Bird Fund. The Wild Bird Fund is a wildlife rehabilitation center. Its job is to take injured wildlife and give them the care they need so they can be released back into the wild. I feel as if I made a few contributions. First, I helped clean many times. I helped clean cages, and swept up and mopped. I also helped with feedings. In addition, I helped rehabbers enter data into the system when new birds came in. Because I do these things, the staff could concentrate on the tasks which require more skill and knowledge than I have. I learned a few things from my experience this year. I learned what to look for in a healthy bird, and what certain signs of sickness look like. I learned how to give a bird subcutaneous fluids. I also learned how to draw blood and how to perform a lead test. Most importantly, working at the Wild Bird Fund, I learned that I want to work with animals as a career. One experience I had was when a mother duck came in with her babies. She was a vicious duck, and attacked anyone who set foot into the cage, or tried to take her out. I was often given the task of cleaning her cage, and swimming her ducklings. I found this was often a struggle, due to her aggressive nature. However, when they were eventually released, I felt immense satisfaction. I learned they joy of seeing an animal restored and didn’t mind the trouble they had caused me. This internship relates to the principle of protecting the environment. This is phrased as “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part”. This relates to that because we are rehabilitating injured wildlife. The wildlife are usually injured by something which relates back to human beings. Some of the hazards include attacks by domestic animals, oil spills, lead poisoning, getting caught in strings, getting hit by cars, and various other things. The workshop relates to the internship in the following way. It has to do with protecting the planet earth. Because wildlife are part of the planet earth, protecting wildlife is protecting the earth. It’s all a part of environmental stewardship.

Alex Wolff – Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office UU Fellowship of Huntington

Through my SAF work, I made several contributions to the UU UNO. I primarily worked with social media, and I created a tumblr page for the office, as well as wrote several blog posts. I think this work helped me learn that communication is critical when it comes to making change. People cannot support a cause that they know nothing about. Working with the UU UNO helped me realize the importance of researching and finding information, and then making that information accessible so gaining support and resources becomes easier. My favorite day in the office was helping the Envoy Coordinator design the programming for her workshops about privilege at UUNIRONDACK camp. I learned a lot about 33 organizing ideas and identifying objectives. I also really enjoyed helping my coworkers think creatively about how to reach certain goals. This helped me realize that Instructional Design is a great career option for me. I believe that my internship experience related to all 7 principles in some way. I remember specifically that a coworker was compiling a master list of homeless shelters in New York City, something that would make it easier to help homeless people. This brings the first principle to mind. I think all of the work that is done at the UU UNO works to create peace (principle 6) and specifically the climate change work coincides with number 7. The workshops on climate change directly related to the work I did during my internship. The UU UNO just recently launched “CAT Teams” (climate action teams) and is doing a lot of work to bring global-scope climate change work to the congregational level. I also personally did a lot of planning and coordination for the Climate Change March that took place in early September. The office also looks at climate change through the lenses of other human rights issues that they work with. For example, climate change is a major issue for indigenous peoples. This internship was an incredible experience that helped me realize how I can contribute to my faith and community through social justice work. I am so grateful to have this opportunity, and I can’t wait to work with the office again!

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