E-Vangel Newsletter
July 9, 2012
Pastorgraphs: “Parents and Coca Cola Cans”
I
learned two amazing facts recently. First, there is a glob of putrid plastic
the size of Texas floating in the mid-Pacific Ocean. It is made up mostly of
discarded plastic bottles. Secondly, there are hundreds of children in the
California foster care system who have no contact with their parents deported
to Mexico. Now what in the world could these two facts have to do with each
other? Or us?
Last
week, I met with Richard Villasana, CEO of Find Relatives in
Mexico. His organization has helped over 4,100 families reunite over
the past 20 years. He has been so successful such agencies as the State of
Oregon, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Department
of Defense, the Ninth Circuit Court, and foster care agencies have used their services.
Regardless
of your views on immigration and deportation, put yourself in the place of a
child whose parents are suddenly sent to another country. No means to
communicate with them, no resources to reconnect, no knowledge of how to begin.
Find Relatives in Mexico becomes their advocate. Finding family support
lessens the burden on the State.
What
does that have to do with plastic bottles, and us? When Find Relatives in
Mexico lost some grant funding, rather than close down, as many such
agencies have done, they decided to do their own fund raising. So they began
asking churches and other groups to partner with them in a recycling project.
Where
else can you help the environment and help reunite families at the same time?
It is a win-win. There is now a special dumpster located in the church parking
lot next to the entrance to the Social Hall. You may place your plastic bottles
and aluminum cans (no paper or glass) in the dumpster. Find Families in
Mexico will take care of processing the recyclables, and they will share
the proceeds with us!
I
hung a plastic bag in the garage to collect our cans and bottles. In less than
a week, it is almost full. Wow. Now it is on its way to the church’s recycle
bin. And if you wonder, Waste Management is OK with this arrangement. We still
use the larger WM recycle dumpster for paper, cardboard and glass.
At
the CalRecycle
website, you may request a sturdy cardboard box for your home or office to
collect the recycling. Limit one per address. This is FREE and makes it easy to
collect recyclables. When it is full, bring it to Christ Ministry Center and
help us fill the recycle bin.
So
help us get out the word. Bring us your aluminum cans and plastic bottles. You
will help accomplish much good, and may help some child find his or her
relatives.
Bless you,
one and all, Brother Bill
From the Quote Garden
“And Man created the
plastic bag and the tin and aluminum can and the cellophane wrapper and the
paper plate, and this was good because Man could then take his automobile and
buy all his food in one place and He could save that which was good to eat in the
refrigerator and throw away that which had no further use. And soon the
earth was covered with plastic bags and aluminum cans and paper plates and
disposable bottles and there was nowhere to sit down or walk, and Man shook his
head and cried: "Look at this God-awful mess."”
~ Art Buchwald
Christ United Methodist Ministry
Center
“Christ
in the Heart of San Diego”
3295
Meade Avenue - San Diego, CA 92116 - (619) 284-9205
No comments:
Post a Comment