Nominations for 2022-2023 Outreach Collections
The Social Justice Committee invited nominations to receive one of next year’s Outreach Collections.
Nominations are now closed.
Organizations nominated for consideration for next church year are: A Farm Less Ordinary, Beacon House, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions (FACS), Homestretch, Just Neighbors, Mamatoto Village, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program (NVTRP), Opportunities, Alternatives, and Resources of Northern VA (OAR), paws4people, Transgender Education Association (TGEA), Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP), and Virginia Interfaith Power and Light.
Voting for the 2022-23 outreach collection recipients will take place June 1 – 12 through a digital ballot that will be available via This Week at Accotink beginning June 1. AUUC members, friends, and teens are encouraged to participate in this important decision.
Learn more about these nonprofits here, and visit their websites. Stay tuned for more details including the organizations’ impact, community contributions, and financial information.
Please contact Nancy Davis if you have any questions about the nomination form or AUUC’s Outreach Collection program.
Outreach Collection Program: 2021-2022
The Social Justice Committee is currently supporting these twelve non-profit organizations in the 2021-22 church year through our Outreach Collection Program. Special thanks to the coordinators who nominated these organizations and are leading each monthly collection. Donations may be made online through AUUC’s website and by checks made payable to AUUC with the organization named in the memo line mailed to: Accotink UU Church, 10125 Lakehaven Court, Burke, VA 22015
AUUC Outreach Collection Recipients 2021–2022
| Recipients | Month | Function & Beneficiaries | AUUC Coordinators / Sponsors |
| Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ) | July | Coalition of area (& beyond) UU churches organized to advocate in support of UU values & social justice issues at federal level, including Write Here, Write Now, visits to Congress | John Peterson |
| Equality Virginia | August | Educates, empowers, and mobilizes Virginians to ensure all LGBTQ people are free to live, love, learn, and work. Committed to racial justice, inclusive schools, and monitoring LGBTQ-related Virginia legislation. | True Accotink Colors (TAC)/ Kate McDevitt |
| Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE) | September | Interfaith group organized to listen to concerns of 50+ members; then promote actions on key issues: get out the vote, housing, education | Suzy Porth, Pam Cox, Dotty Smith, Chris Stunkard, & Kathryn Adams |
| Opportunities, Alternatives, and Resources (OAR) of Northern VA | October | Provides adults involved with justice systems alternative sentencing options, release preparation & post-release services to ease transitions, pre-vent recidivism. Programs also support families. | Dotty Smith & Kathryn Adams |
| Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP) | November | Partners with hundreds of congregations in VA to advocate for economic, racial, social, environmental justice, health equity on behalf of people that are marginalized. Collaborates with state legislators to develop and support policy. | Dean Wanderer |
| Just Neighbors | December | Provides compassionate legal assistance to low-income immigrants including DACA recipients, those with TPS, asylum seekers in the greater DC area to obtain documentation. | Judy Usherson |
| Homestretch | January | Empowers homeless families (many single moms with children) to succeed by providing skills, knowledge, and hope that lead to permanent housing and self-sufficiency. | John Peterson |
| Beacon House | February | Provides afterschool education, organized sports, nurturing & mentoring, helping close the achievement gap for low-income children/teens of color in Northeast Washington, D.C. | Nancy Davis |
| paws4people | March | Educates prisoners in 3 WV prisons to train assistance dogs that are placed with veterans & active-duty military, children with special needs. WREN is AUUC’s p4p puppy-in-training. | Children’s RE classes & Nancy Davis, Ali Mills |
| Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions (FACS) | April | Interfaith group of 70+ places of worship organized to implement climate change solutions in No.VA & statewide. Advocacy efforts at local and state levels have impacted growth of solar energy, carbon reduction. | Green Sanctuary/Marsha White & Mary Rose Janya |
| Mamatoto Village | May | Reduces Black maternal and infant mortality through services for women of color and their families during & post- pregnancy. Creates career pathways in maternal health. | Racial Justice Committee/Jenn Carlson |
| A Farm Less Ordinary | June | Provides meaningful employment in a supportive environment for adults with developmental & intellectual disabilities. Sustainable methods used to grow vegetables. Partners w/ local food bank. | Debbie Cohen |
If you have any questions, please contact Outreach Collection Program Coordinator Nancy D or [email protected].
Collections Archive
In 2020-21, AUUC members and friends contributed $15,588.15 to the twelve nonprofit organizations selected by the congregation. You can see lists of organizations AUUC supported in the past two years on the Outreach Collections Archive page.
To see ALL the organizations AUUC has supported through our outreach collection program since the first outreach collection in September 2001, visit https://tinyurl.com/2f48zd55. Thanks to our members and friends who have contributed a total of $259,295.76 (as of June 2021). Thanks also to the many, many dedicated sponsors who nominated these organizations and did the publicity for each collection over the last 20 years!
Outreach Collections Program
The AUUC Outreach Collection Program provides us a way to provide financial support as a congregation to organizations that put into practice our UU principles. It allows us to deepen relationships/partnerships with organizations with which AUUC individuals or groups are connected and develop new connections. As part of its overall mission, the Social Justice Committee annually requests nominations of organizations from the congregation and oversees the selection of 12 recipients of special monthly collections to benefit a wide range of worthwhile nonprofit organizations, at the same time educating the congregation about their contributions to the local and regional community.
Donate on AUUC’s website accotinkuu.org by clicking “donate” in the upper right corner, and in the Donations of Generosity section click on the “Monthly Outreach Offerings” box.
Or, mail your check payable to AUUC with the organization named in the memo line to Accotink UU Church, 10125 Lakehaven Court, Burke, VA 22015. Thank you!
Outreach collections are sponsored by Accotink’s Social Justice Committee.