Save the Date: 2023 Time & Talent Auction

Wonderful World, Beautiful People

The 2023 Time and Talent Auction is back, live and in-person, and online!  Yes, Wonderful World, Beautiful People will be a hybrid auction – a Caribbean Dinner Party and Live Auction celebration on Saturday, May 13, 5:00 in Atherton Hall with the Online Auction kicking off Sunday, May 7 at noon. This auction benefits Countryside Church and our three service partners.  More information to come!

Countryside Church UU is proud to support Our Service Partners.

Click here to learn more about them.

Partners for Our Community (POC) empowers people and changes lives with a vision for a community of strong citizens, healthy families, and vibrant neighborhoods. POC aligns and facilitates partnerships among multiple agencies to connect children and families to needed services and resources in education, employment, health & wellness, youth development and adult leadership. Learn more here or on their website, www.poc.news, and follow POC on Facebook.

Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI) is a non-profit, faith-based organization of staff and volunteers called to respond to the suffering of adults and children affected by our broken and inhumane immigration system and advocate for change. ICDI provides advocacy, working as part of a national coalition to end immigrant detention and for-profit incarceration and create funding for community- and faith-based support; service & monitoring through jail visitation, unaccompanied children’s interfaith ministry, deportation ministry & vigil, court watch, and post detention accompaniment; and community-based housing including Chalice House, a partnership with Countryside Church.  www.icdichicago.org

Faith in Place empowers Illinois people of all faiths to be leaders in caring for the Earth, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities. Since 1999, Faith in Place has worked with more than 1,000 houses of worship throughout Illinois to protect our common land, water, and air. With outreach staff working across the state and office located in Chicago, the North & West Suburbs, Lake County, and Central Illinois, Faith in Place inspires faithful people to care for the Earth through four program areas: Energy & Climate Change, Sustainable Food & Land Use, Water Preservation, and Advocacy. Faith in Place is the Illinois Affiliate of Interfaith Power and Light. www.faithinplace.org

More detailed descriptions of all three partners and their activities can be found here.

What is the OSC?

Countryside has a long heritage of generosity. In 2013, the Board of Countryside Church UU (CCUU) established the Outreach Steering Committee (OSC) to help guide CCUU in reaching out to make a difference: in our community, in our country, and in our own hearts.

The Outreach Steering Committee was formed by the CCUU board with the following mission:

• Provide leadership, planning and oversight for CCUU congregation-wide service projects and fundraising events.

• Solicit input as to what outreach issues may be inspiring the congregation or may reflect the needs of the larger community for service and justice; and

• Select specific organizations or service projects that will benefit from annual congregation-wide funding, from a pool of nominations by the congregation.

The Vision Statement of the OSC:

The OSC is a catalyst for channeling the talents and passion of the CCUU community to the human needs of the larger community. We will do this through understanding the needs of organizations that address issues important to the CCUU membership and providing resources of both time and money to make a transformational difference to these organizations and CCUU members. We will collectively learn as we develop innovative solutions and processes that enable broad member participation in these activities and manage relationships such that success is sustained. The pride and joy of this effort will be felt by every CCUU member and their children and becomes an inspiring example to others.

Members

The OSC members are: Christine Organ, Chair; Nancy Dempsey, Lisa Gilley, Marie Mauter, Janet McDonnell, Mari Peckham. The Minister is a non-voting member of OSC.

Contact: Outreach@ccuu.org

Upcoming and Past Activities

• May 16, 2021 – Online Time and Talent Auction begins
• September 27, 2020 – Music with a Mission
• March 2, 2019 – Music with a Mission
• November 17, 2018 – Time and Talent Auction
• March 17, 2018 – Music with a Mission
• November 18, 2017 – Time and Talent Auction
• March 11, 2017 – Music With a Mission
• November 19, 2016 – Time, Talent, and Trivia
• October 28, 2016 – Trunk or Treat with POC
• October 9-23, 2016 – Costume collection @CCUU
• March 5, 2016 – Music With a Mission
• November 21, 2015 – Time, Talent, and Trivia
• March 14, 2015 – Music With a Mission
• November 22, 2014 – Time and Talent (Love Is All You Need)
• July 1 2014 – Two or three new members join the OSC
• May 2014 – Service partners confirmed by congregation
• Late April 2014 – Service partners suggested
• Late March 2014 – Community needs assessment completed
• Late March 2014 – Church service profile completed
• March 8, 2014 – Music With a Mission Fundraising Event
• February 16, 2014 @ 12:30pm – 2^nd service focus group
• January/February 2014 – Service survey launched
• November 2013 – First service focus group
• November 2013: North by Northwest Time & Talent Auction – More than $21,000.00 raised for our outreach partners!

OSC Informational Documents

CCUU SERVICE PARTNER GUIDELINES

Drafted April 2014; to be updated regularly

Partner Considerations

1 1. Aligned with UU values

2. 2. Aligned with CCUU member priorities and input, specifically:

a. Concentrate on a few partners and retain flexibility rather than creating black and white guidelines (re: global/local; focus of the organizations; etc.)

i.Local offers service opportunities, but global offers opportunities to broaden our world view

b. Be sure at least some of the partners provide opportunities for service projects

i. Provide various levels of engagement

ii. Local, easily accessed

iii. Mission trips

c. Organization mission, top priorities:

i. Economic inequities (homelessness, hunger)

ii. Human rights (immigrant, LGBT, racial, gender)

iii. Health care and mental health

iv. Environment

3. 3.  Alignment with Ministries

a. Provides opportunities for service projects

b. Supports their priorities

4 4. Does the organization address root cause or symptoms

a. Solving an underlying problem (e.g., influence policy)

b. Delivering immediate and direct relief (e.g., food bank, shelter, disaster relief)

5. Opportunity for greater influence/combining efforts

a. Partner with other churches

b. Support an organization like UUSC

6. Organization status:

a. Non profit 501c3

b. Financially solvent

c. No legal issues/litigation

d. Independent viability

i. Fund project or operating budget

ii. Number of sources of income

iii. Appropriate level of dependency on us

7.Relationship

a. Ability to assess and communicate the impact our money and time has had

b. Attend our events

c. Help promote our events

d. Trust, openness, transparency

e. Opportunities for Board membership or other types of CCUU member engagement