Action Alerts
Planning for ComFest 2020 is underway. This is a very special year. It is the beginning of a new decade.
Many will call 2020 the year of perfect vision and hope that it will be. This is a very special year for ComFest and Columbus. This will be the 50th ComFest event (in 1973 & ‘75 there were two Festivals and in 1974 there was no Festival).
2022 will be ComFest's 50th anniversary and should be a cause for a great celebration to start now. This is a celebration of ComFest and its long history and wonderful moments. It is also a celebration of the ongoing passing of the torch to the new generations of the volunteers and attendees that will lead ComFest into its 6th decade. But even more so, it is a celebration for Columbus and its progressive community and what we have accomplished together since ComFest in 1972.
Sunday, December 29, 2pm
82 E. 16th Ave.-cooking/YMCA, Long and Front Streets-serving
We’re cooking to share a meal outside the downtown YMCA shelter again — bring whatever vegan(ish) food you can find, or just bring yourself to help prepare the meal, or just come over for conversation and company. New people are Always welcome!
The address on the event is where the cooking itself will occur. (We're test-running a new cooking location that is a bit bigger, and is wheelchair accessible)
We'll gather our resources by 2pm and start prepping a meal to serve, Should be done cooking by 5pm and then go to the YMCA on W Long St & N Front St and then to set up (hopefully by 5.15-5.30pm) a community picnic for those in need (picnic usually lasts only an hour til we're out of food). Come help (learn) to cook, or come help with the serve ... just let us know you are actually coming :)
All are welcome to come with, and we should be able to find you a ride if needed. columbusfnb@gmail.com
Saturday, December 28, 2019, 9:30 – 12:30 AM
Come join UUJO, the Columbus Poor People's Campaign, members of Bethel AME and others as we learn about the realities of Voter Suppression in Ohio and how to become a Voter Advocate for 2020. The training will be facilitated by Rev Susan Smith, Crazy Faith Ministries, and Rev Joan VanBecelaere, UUJO. We will learn about how to help people register to vote in Ohio, and how to easily check the voter registration roles to make sure our family and neighbors have not been purged. And learn how to form a team in your congregation or neighborhood to help register others. We will have materials and Voter Advocacy tool kits available. Questions: contact Rev Joan VanBecelaere, uujoanvanb@gmail.com. Location: Bethel AME Church, 2021 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH 43211.
Monday, December 23, 2019, 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Please join us. We need 9 people to hold our banners! And distribute literature about the Campaign for HR 2407 Children in Military Detention. More information: bit.ly/2Qp5vbf. Optional join us for lunch in Worthington.
Location: the northwest corner of 161 and North High, Worthington.
Whenever there's an election in the United States, qualified voters are denied the right to vote because they haven't jumped through the hoops necessary to register.
Meanwhile, thousands of volunteers toil endless hours on a task that need not exist at all: registering voters.
But in 16 states, plus Washington D.C., registration is now automatic. There's no reason that Ohio can't be next to join this list: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.
Thursday, December 19, 6-7pm
Trinity Episcopal Church on Capitol Square, 125 E. Broad St.
This annual Memorial Service will honor and remember people who have experienced homelessness who have passed away during the course of the year. Please join us to honor their lives with words and music of inspiration.
Sponsored by Columbus Coalition for the Homeless.
Wednesday, December 18, 5pm
Legal Aid Society of Columbus, 1108 City Park Ave.
Volunteer lawyers will be available to screen you for record-sealing eligibility or Certificates of Qualification for Employment.
Registration will end at 6.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019, 9:00 – 10:00 AM. Response to ICE: Solidarity with Edith Espinal. Join in support with Edith Espinal this Tuesday, December 17th at 9 am at Columbus Mennonite Church as we send a unified message of solidarity in response to the fines and criminalization Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is leveraging against her. Edith has been ordered to report to ICE for deportation this Tuesday, December 17th. Rather than comply, Edith will be sending several clergy in her place, and we will gather with her at Columbus Mennonite Church at 9am to send a strong message of solidarity with Edith and her family, including public statements opposing these fines, charges, and tactics of family separation.