Featured Causes First Quarter 2010
Once every three months, I select three local community groups to recognize as Featured Causes. We have many good groups here in Southern Illinois, and I feel that selecting these Featured Causes is a good way to bring them to your attention a few at a time, thereby offering them additional support through special recognition.
Here are the Featured Causes for First Quarter 2010:
Good Samaritan House Ministries : Good Samaritan House Ministries is a tax-exempt organization, established in 1985 by Carbondale Interfaith Council, to provide services to the needy in the Carbondale area. They provide an emergency shelter, a transitional housing program, a soup kitchen, a food pantry, and an emergency assistance program. Many of my fellow Real Life Superheroes focus on helping the homeless and needy in their communities. Learning from their example, I would like to do the same here in our community. Good Sam is one of the organizations right here in Carbondale that provides such services on a daily basis. I'm also open to suggestions about how to help the homeless, and people living below the poverty line, in other ways.
Gaia House Interfaith Center : I've chosen the Gaia House Interfaith Center for a second quarter of special recognition. This community center has been undergoing a renaissance in the past semester or two, bringing a renewed burst of progressive activity to life in our community. They've been an important part of the open, progressive, diversity-embracing community since the middle of the 20th Century. Their programs for Spring 2009 include the weekly InterVeg vegetarian dinner; Rice and Spice, a weekly international slow foods dinner; Progressive Christian Students meal and discussion series; Spiritual Not Religious, a series exploring spiritual life for university students; Gaia Gatherings, an informal monthly potluck to talk about the center's mission and vision; and a variety of other programs related to ecological living and social justice. The Center is home to the Labyrinth Peace Garden, an extensive lending library, a large community kitchen, and space upstairs and downstairs for meetings, dinners, and other events. You can support Gaia House by coming to one of their many exciting events or renting the Center to host an event of your own.
WDBX 91.1 FM : WDBX is a community radio station located in Carbondale, Illinois. With over a hundred volunteer DJs offering music, talk radio, and beyond, we are by far the most diverse and independent station in the region. I also co-host a show on WDBX called Your Community Spirit every Friday at 10 am. Your Community Spirit features local events as well as ecological and social justice news. We bring you the dirt, but we always do it with an upbeat focus and a goofy sense of humor. If you're not in Southern Illinois, you can listen through streaming audio on the website. If you are in Southern Illinois, you can join us for the WDBX Ball on February 13! See the website for more details.
Of course, I'm slightly off of the quarter cycle at the moment since I started the program a month into Fourth Quarter 2009 and didn't update it until a month into First Quarter 2010. Therefore, I will continue featuring these groups until mid-April, after which point we should be back on track.
I'd like to send out a big thank you to everyone involved in organizing these groups, and everyone else involved in supporting them. If you're not already involved, you can become a supporter too by making a donation or participating in their events.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or the group in question. I look forward to seeing you out in the community!
