Emerson has an active charitable outreach program, supporting a wide range of organizations that address concerns in our seven principles. Each week during our Sunday service, Emerson UU Church takes a collection to support these charitable organizations. Every month, a different charity is chosen to receive 75% of the plate collection, with the other 25% going to Interfaith Ministries Meals on Wheels program.

The recipients are selected by Emerson’s Charitable Outreach Committee from nominations made by members of the congregation. This year, the nomination process was shifted from the fall to begin in January to avoid overlapping the Stewardship Campaign. The Committee selected two organizations with strong connections to Emerson for our January and February recipients to allow for that transition in the calendar. Those selections are discussed below, after the description of the nomination process.

The Nomination campaign begins Sunday, January 7, and continues through Sunday, February 11. Any member of Emerson church can nominate recognized charities using an on-line link or paper form that will be available in the Gathering Place. The online link is: https://forms.gle/jLvyQC3wSYorVg2Z8

There are two requirements for a nomination. It must be made by a member of the Houston Emerson UU Church, and the charity must be a 501(c)3 organization. Other criteria are not mandatory but are considered by the committee during the deliberations. As outlined on our Web site at https://emersonhouston.org/social-action/share-the-plate/ these criteria include:

• Consistent with UU principles
• Perceived impact of award
• Involvement of Emerson members
• Financial soundness of organization and project
• Degree to which award leverages existing resources
• Project sustained after grant funding is spent
• Grant funding critical to project success
• Future Emerson involvement with organization
• Project success will be measured
• Emerson identification with project will be published
• Success doesn’t require total available Emerson funds
• Located in greater Houston area.

The forms are designed to obtain information from the nominator relating to these criteria to help the Committee make its decision.

As mentioned, this year we are transitioning from a January to December calendar to a March to February one for Share the Plate. The January 2024 recipient chosen to allow that change is the AUDREY GALE HALL MEMORIAL JUSTICE FUND, which is a memorial fund of the Texas UU Justice Ministry. Audrey served Emerson as our Membership Coordinator from December 2021 until October of 2022. In the time we shared with Audrey, she made a profound impact on our congregation. This fund supports scholarships and programs for racial justice, decarceration, and LGBTQIA+ rights and inclusion. Priority is given to the support of UU young adults doing justice work and trans and BIPOC organizers.

The Share-the-Plate recipient for February 2024 is Emerson’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program, created in 2014 to serve the fast-growing immigrant population of Houston. We have served students from all over the globe speaking 12 different languages. After closing the program for two years due to Covid, we restarted it again last summer. There is no cost for students to participate in the program and the teachers are all volunteers.  The STP donations help buy textbooks, supplies, and pay for a part-time Program Coordinator.

The Outreach Committee comprises Mark Andersen, Ruth Wolinsky, and Janet Dawson. Ellen Norton is the Board of Trustees liaison. Please feel free to speak with our members if you have questions or concerns.

We encourage you to take this opportunity to nominate the organizations that you support with your own time, talent, and treasure. By sharing the plate, we can multiply our individual efforts to improve the world we live in.