One Good Person

Inside:

Join us in Supporting IPC's Mission
Giving to IPC in Other Ways
Tree Planting Opportunities
Advocacy Updates - What coming down the pike?

“All it takes is one good person to restore hope!”

Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On the Care of our Common Home, 2015

At Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, we abound in hope because of all the good we encounter every day – in people, in congregations, in communities, and in Creation. We invite you to pause as we arrive at the year’s end to give thanks for all the signs of hope for and among the community of faith who cares about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and raises its hands and voice to restore and protect it.

We delight in the realization that during our past two years as an organization, Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake has brought forth many fruits of hope:

Hope for a restored Earth - 10,901 trees have been planted by 45 congregations

Hope for faith community leadership - 115 congregations have taken action to heal the Earth and inspire others to do the same through planting trees, installing rain gardens, watershed education, and speaking out to their legislative representatives

Hope for the future - 30 young adults engaged in an experiential series linking spirituality, creation justice, and advocacy

Hope for community healing - Building coalitions among underserved congregations to empower faith leaders who know how to heal their communities, but need a partner to lean on

Hope for interfaith collaboration- a network of more than 1,300 people and dozens of partner organizations share ideas, legislative updates, toolkits, resources, and experience

We look to the future and the work left to do to cultivate faith-rooted care of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

With your help, we will engage 40 more congregations in hands-on caring for our watershed; host Interfaith Stewardship Service Days bringing together 200 volunteers for a large-scale tree planting to restore Rock Creek and Stoney Creek; and continue to be an anchor in faith-based watershed care, particularly in underserved communities.

Are you hopeful, too?

We invite you to join us in supporting Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake in recognition of the hope restored through good people for a good Creation. Your contribution will sustain, reinforce, and make tangible our shared hope for the future, our many faith traditions, and the power of the faith community in sustaining the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Click here to DONATE

In hope and gratitude,

Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin Rev. Rod Miller
Co-Chair Co-Chair

Giving to IPC in Other Ways

Even if you cannot make a financial contribution to IPC, you can help us in many other ways.

Collection Basket - Consider asking your pastor, rabbi, or spiritual leader if you can take up a collection for IPC to contribute to this mission. This not only raises awareness about the work we do, but it helps us with our annual operating budget. Any little bit helps!

Volunteer Your Time - We need assistance with our website, database, phone calling to our congregations to follow up with them, and mentoring new congregations to get them started. You can help us from home, or you can come to our office in Annapolis and we will provide you a computer to work on. We also could use photographers/videographers, social media gurus, and help with Spanish translation of our materials. Click here to sign up to volunteer!

In-Kind Donations - There are a few things on our wish list that would help us do our work more efficiently!
- Laptop - we need one new laptop with iCore 5 processor or higher
- Projector - A projector that we can hook our laptop up to for delivering presentations at congregations.
- Miscellaneous Supplies - Flip chart paper, flip chart easels, markers, pocket folders (new)

Thank you!

Tree Planting Opportunities

We are enrolling faith communities for free tree plantings for 2016. Trees for Sacred Places provides everything your community needs for the tree planting, customized support, and an educational/spiritual workshop specific for your faith tradition. This program is available throughout the state of Maryland and we are especially looking for congregations in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. Contact Bonnie Sorak at [email protected] or 410-609-6852. View and download Flyer here.

Advocacy Updates - What's Coming Down the Pike?

Curtis Bay Incinerator

A new incinerator is slated to be constructed in Curtis Bay, a South Baltimore neighborhood. The incinerator will be located within 1 mile of schools and is in an under-served area. This is an environmental injustice that warrants attention. This story has a complicated history and it's possible that the entity aiming to build the incinerator, Energy Matters, may be working with an expired permit. A group of concerned citizens from Free Your Voice are planning arally to tell Maryland Department of Environment that they are concerned. More information can be found on this website.

When? December 15, 2015 at 4pm - 6pm
Where? Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Blvd., Baltimore , MD 21230
Questions? Greg Sawtell, [email protected], 410-230-1998

Howard County Stormwater Utility Fee Repeal

County Executive Allan Kittleman is proposing County Bill 52-2015 that would repeal collection of fees in Howard County to support a budget for achieving compliance with stormwater permit requirements. With other significant budget cuts made by the County mid-year, there is growing concern that there will not be enough money to adequately meet the County's permit requirements. We will be circulating a letter to Howard County residents next week that you may wish to send to your Council representative if you are concerned about all of these budget cuts. If you wish to reach out to your Howard County Council Member now, please click here to find your district representative and their contact information.

The Council will formally introduce the legislation during its Legislative Session on Monday, December 7, 2015 at 7pm. A public hearing is scheduled for Monday, December 21, 2015 at 7pm. If needed, the Council will hold a Work Session on Monday, December 28, 2015 at 4:30pm in the C. Vernon Gray Room. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held in the Banneker Room of the George Howard Building, 3430 Court House Drive in Ellicott City, MD. You may join the Council for its public hearing or testimony can be submitted electronically to [email protected]. If you’re unable to attend the hearing but still want to tune in, you can stream the session on line at http://cc.howardcountymd.gov/Online-Tools/Watch-Us.

Maryland Legislative Session

The Maryland State legislative session is starting in January - can you feel the excitement?!? IPC is working hard to track the upcoming bills and distill the information for you so that you can prayerfully consider how you and your community will respond. Very soon we will be updating our Advocacy Page to bring you the latest bill summaries and how to take action. During the legislative session, we will be looking for volunteers to testify at the statehouse, write letters to their representatives, or meet with their congregational leaders to disseminate information and get signatures on letters. Can you volunteer? Please email [email protected] to further discuss this and express your interest. Don't worry - we will train you!

http://www.interfaithchesapeake.org/

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