Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. In a gentle way, you can share the world."
Mahatma Gandhi b. 1869 assassinated 1948
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule and in turn to inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world

     This week's email has something for everyone, WeCAN friends: volunteer opportunities, a campaign launch, a writing workshop, multiple options for free and accessible food, a vigil, a talk about our Democracy, and an open house...and that's just naming a few of the vital events listed below. Grab your calendar and consider making a plan to serve your community at an event soon; we look forward to seeing you there! 

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New Community Volunteer Opportunity

Brattleboro Community Thanksgiving and Volunteer Opportunity
Wednesday, November 24th, 2021 at Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 11:30am.
Brattleboro Union High School, Fresh Pick Cafe, and The Pit Mistress have collaborated to ensure that we are able to hold a 2021 Community Thanksgiving meal. Food will be available for dine in, take out, and delivery.
Volunteers are needed! Please fill out this form if you are available to assist. Thank you!

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HAPPENING TODAY:
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7th, 2021

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HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8th, 2021-SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14th, 2021

Reproductive Liberty Amendment Campaign Launch
hosted by the team at Planned Parenthood Vermont Action Fund
Monday, November 8th, 2021, Online. 7pm-8:30pm.
Click here to register! If you can’t join this event, but would still like to show support, please consider making a donation or pledging to vote yes on the amendment. 
Questions? Contact us at [email protected] or (802) 338-6811.
We’re excited to invite you to a virtual event celebrating the launch of Vermont’s Reproductive Liberty Amendment Campaign, 7:00 pm-8:30 pm on November 8! Please join us as we kick off the final year of this effort — “a must win for the movement” — with keynote speaker Alexis McGill Johnson, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, American roots band Dwight & Nicole, and real talk about our reproductive rights. 
Next year, on November 8, 2022, Vermont voters will decide the fate of the Reproductive Liberty Amendment (Prop 5). This November, exactly one year from this historic vote, a new coalition of Vermonters – the Vermont for Reproductive Liberty IE PAC – is launching its campaign to pass the amendment. Click here to learn more about the Reproductive Liberty Amendment.
If we succeed, this will be a groundbreaking achievement. Vermont will become the first in the nation to explicitly protect reproductive rights in its state constitution and pave the way for other states to do the same.
In addition to our headliners, we're thrilled to feature in our lineup:

• Representative Anna Eskamani, Florida Legislator & Reproductive Rights Champion;
• Vidhi Salla, Guilford-Based Cultural Arts Curator & Radio Show Host;
• Jessica Arons, Senior Advocacy & Policy Counsel for Reproductive Freedom at the ACLU;
• Dr. Harry Chen, Former Vermont Health Commissioner;
• Professor Carly Thomsen, Gender, Sexuality, & Feminist Studies at Middlebury College; and
• Bruce Lee-Clark, Retired Methodist Minister & Lawyer.

As we move into the final stretch of the amendment’s passage — facing both local and national opposition — we need Vermonters to stand with us. We are, truly, stronger together.
We, along with our “Stronger Together” Host Committee Annie Faulkner, Randall Rives Perkins, Creston Lea & Kerrie Mathes, Main Street Landing, Melinda & Rick Moulton, Jane Pincus, Sandra Wynne, Marilyn Blackwell, Lou & Bruce Zellner, Jack Beecham & Allie Stickney, Cheryl & Dick Hanson, Felicia Kornbluh & Anore Horton, Kate & Bill Schubart, Mary E. Summers, Janet & Paul Warren, Karen Weinstein, and Christine Zachai & Rick Powell would love for you to join us at this special virtual celebration.
We hope to see you on November 8!

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Speaking Your Truth: Opinion Writing
a VIM/The Commons Media Mentoring Workshop
Tuesday, November 9th, 2021, Online. 7:30pm.
Pre-registration required. Please email [email protected] for the Zoom link.
Want to get something off your chest? Want to advocate for a compelling social issue?
Learn how to write persuasive letters-to-the-editors and Op-Eds and get them published. Hear what the editors of The Commons and The Reformer expect for effective editorial writing. And get a how-to guide from journalism professor, Mac Gander, on crafting a well-reasoned and convincing opinion piece.
Together these professionals – Jeff Potter, editor, The Commons; Melanie Winters, news editor, Brattleboro Reformer and Mac Gander, will coach workshop participants in creating compelling and persuasive opinion pieces and letters-to-the-editor.
Geoff Burgess, former Landmark College instructor, department chair, and dean, and current VIM/The Commons board member, will lead the discussion.

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Outside of Windham County: Northern VT
Our Basin of Relations: The Art & Science of Living with Water with M.E. Sipe and Trevien Stanger
hosted by Phoenix Books Rutland and Phoenix Books Essex & Burlington
Tuesday, November 9th, 2021, Online. 8pm-9:30pm.
Registration is free, but book purchases are welcomed and appreciated--thank you for supporting our contributors! Register here-> https://www.phoenixbooks.biz/.../our-basin-relations-m-e...
Join us for a virtual celebration for the release of Our Basin of Relations: The Art & Science of Living with Water by M.E. Sipe and Trevien Stanger.
Water does not lie. Here in the Champlain Basin--a flowing landscape of mountains and rivers, forests and farms, towns and cities--it is the water that whispers difficult truths. From erosion, pollution, and habitat loss, to the toxic algae blooms that close Champlain's beaches every summer, this once vital ecosystem is coming undone. And while there is no shortage of proposed technical and legislative solutions, it is clear that we also need distinct cultural responses to the problem--ways to see, hear, feel, and understand what the water is telling us.
Featuring the fine art photography of M.E. Sipe, the curating vision of Trevien Stanger, and more than a dozen essays written by thinkers, academics, poets, farmers, and activists who call this region home, Our Basin of Relations presents new ways of thinking and old ways to remember, helping us chart a more honest path forward toward preservation and renewal. With open hearts, wild minds, and attentive bodies, these essayists deepen our insights and advance our sense of the possible for all of the beings, and for all of our relations, that constitute our home: this beautiful place, the Champlain Basin.
M.E. Sipe has been an amateur photographer for over thirty years, his photographs gracing personal walls with images that have staying power. The region is his unparalleled muse; the beauty of the lake, skies, mountains, valley and the people enjoying its splendor. Mike doesn't have to travel the world to find world-class beauty; it is here, in his back yard. He loves to capture area vistas with just the right light accenting a center of interest, the affects of natural elements and motion, and when he finds a wide tonal range, the elegant impression of black and white.
Trevien Stanger is a poet, tree-planter, educator, and writer living and working in the Champlain Basin of Vermont and New York State. Since his early twenties, Trevien has worked seasonally for the Intervale Conservation Nursery, where he leads crews in completing ecological restoration projects along Vermont's rivers and wetlands. Throughout this decade of tree-planting, he has witnessed first hand the realities of Lake Champlain's clean water issues, while also helping play a small, direct role in generating new technical and cultural responses to the situation.

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Marlboro Community Food Share
hosted by the Marlboro Community Center
Thursday, November 11th, 2021, and every Thursday, at the Marlboro Community Center (524 South Road, Marlboro, VT, 05344). 4:30pm-5:30pm.
Every Thursday from 4:30pm-5:30pm the Marlboro Community Center invites you to fill a grocery bag with non-perishables and fresh local produce. No registration or eligibility required. This weekly opportunity is available for anyone who could use an extra bag of groceries or knows someone who does.
Food will be set up in the entry-way to the Marlboro Community Center. For proper social distancing, please enter one person at a time. Bring a grocery bag or use ours. Masks are required. Deliveries will be made through Marlboro Cares for those needing assistance. Please call Marlboro Cares at 802-258-3030 in advance to arrange a delivery.
To donate food:
Leave non-perishable food in the donation box at the Marlboro Post Office. It will be collected on a weekly-basis. (Please note that this box previously supplied the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry, which is now distributing food exclusively from VT Food Pantry) 
Gardeners and farmers are welcome to donate produce. Wear masks and wash hands when harvesting and handling food. Fresh produce can be dropped off at the Community Center on Thursday between 1pm and 4pm. (Any leftover produce will be taken to FoodWorks the following morning)

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Guilford Cares FoodPantry
Thursday, November 11th, 2021 (and every Thursday) at the Guilford Fairgrounds (163 Fairground Rd, Guilford, VT 05301). 5pm-6pm. If you have questions, concerns or would like to donate groceries or monetary gifts please contact Pat Haine 802-257-0626. For additional questions or more information call 802 579 1350 or email [email protected].
Guilford Cares Food Pantry has moved! The Pantry has moved to the First Aid building at the Guilford Fairgrounds. We will be fully stocked with all our usual grocery items.
The Fairgrounds are on Fairground Road, just off Weatherhead Hollow Road. From Guilford Center Road turn onto Weatherhead Hollow Road. Travel 1.7 miles down the road. The Fairgrounds are on the left and there will be a sign directing you up the hill for about .2 miles. The red building is on the left with a sign out in front. Please remain in your car; we’ll greet you,  and give you a shopping list as we have been doing for the past year.
If the Pantry will be closed for any unexpected reason, the closure will be announced on WKVT, WTSA, and Front Porch Forum.
If you cannot come to the Pantry due to illness or high risk, you can call also call Pat to arrange for food delivery by a volunteer.
We know that supplemental food can make such a big difference in one's budget. That is why we are stocking our shelves for our neighbors. All are welcome to come and take home fresh produce, staples, meat, dairy.
Guilford Cares welcomes anyone in need of supplemental food for themselves or their families.

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Brattleboro Winter Farmers’ Market 
a project of Post Oil Solutions
Saturday, November 13th, 2021 at the C.F. Church Building (80 Flat Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-2pm.
For info email Sherry at [email protected], call 802-275-2835, or visit us at www.brattleborowinterfarmersmarket.org. 
Weekly indoor farmers market, creating community and boosting food security every week.  
All locally grown and made: farm produce, meats, syrup, fresh baked goods, cheeses, fruits, cider, preserves, handmade jewelry, pottery, soaps and more. 
Accepting credit, debit and EBT. Crop Cash + Food Boost turns $10 EBT into $30 every week. 

Coffee with Coffey Hours
Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2021, Online. 6:30pm-7:30pm.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87653733300?pwd=c0pDdk9EcHJKUnUzQjY0cm0wbEw3Zz09
Communication with my constituents is a high priority for me, especially as we prepare for the 2022 session. I want you to know what I'm working on and I want to hear from you. I encourage folks to join me at one of my monthly coffee hours. I will be holding coffee hours on third Tuesday of the month.
If you would to receive my newsletters or have questions about the legislation we passed in 2021 or to talk about your priorities for 2022 please email me at: [email protected] 
Your feedback is critical to my legislative work, so please do not hesitate to reach out anytime. 
Take good care,
Sara Coffey
State Representative, Windham-1

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The Root Social Justice Center Open House
Saturday, November 20th, 2021 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studios for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 1pm-4pm.
Please bring your own containers for food. Thank you.
Connect with the Root’s all BIPOC staff; Tour our space; Meet racial accountability partners and community; Sign up for programs; Join our team of volunteers ; Take a photo in the “I Am Vermont Too” Photo Booth; Win a prizes ; Soup, pies, donuts, cider, and more…

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Talk About Our Democracy: Learn about the No Más Polimigra Campaign in Windham County
Monday, November 22nd, 2021, Online. 6:30pm. For information contact Francie Marbury at 802-464-5169.
To Join the meeting copy this URL into your search bar on the 22nd: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82678353560?pwd=TDdCZ1VvbXB2U3N3bVdka1MxSEVSdz09
The meeting will be recorded and will air on BCTV and on WVEW FM .
Join the No Más Polimigra campaign to close loopholes that allow local police to act as immigration enforcers. We've succeeded in Brattleboro, and we are working to have the Windham County Sheriff's Office follow suit.
Talk About Our Democracy will host campaign organizers  We're holding this public information session to explain the statewide and local campaigns, talk together about how and why to be in community solidarity, and connect interested folks to the organizing in their town, or county-wide.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Woody Bernhard is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic:  No Más Polimigra
Time: Nov 22, 2021 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82678353560?pwd=TDdCZ1VvbXB2U3N3bVdka1MxSEVSdz09
Meeting ID: 826 7835 3560
Passcode: 929267
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Brattleboro Community Thanksgiving and Volunteer Opportunity
Wednesday, November 24th, 2021 at Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 11:30am.
Brattleboro Union High School, Fresh Pick Cafe, and The Pit Mistress have collaborated to ensure that we are able to hold a 2021 Community Thanksgiving meal. Food will be available for dine in, take out, and delivery.
Volunteers are needed! Please fill out this form if you are available to assist. Thank you!

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A Silent Vigil of Loving Kindness
Wednesday, November 24th, 2021 at Wells Fountain (298-250 VT-30, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 1:30pm-2:30pm.
For further information and to be on the mailing list for future vigils, please contact Tim Stevenson, [email protected].
Under a banner that reads, “Holding a Space of Loving Kindness for All Living Beings,” we will conduct a silent vigil on Thanksgiving eve @ Wells Fountain across from Brooks Library and the Municipal Building, downtown Brattleboro
Our purpose is to serve as a living reminder of the inherent goodness of each of us, as well as our inextricable connection with one another.
For a few minutes or the entire hour, all are welcome to join us in extending sentiments of loving kindness to all living beings: to family and friends, neighbors and strangers, kindred spirits and adversaries, human and non-human beings, alike. And to ourselves, as well. People may choose to stand, kneel, or sit in a chair they bring (there are stone benches circling the Fountain).

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Red Cross Blood Drive at the Winston Prouty Campus
Saturday, November 27th, 2021
Saturday, December 18th, 2021 at the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development (Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9am-3pm. To help make these events possible by volunteering, please contact Lisa Whitney at [email protected].
Winston Prouty and the American Red Cross are hosting monthly blood drives throughout 2021.The Red Cross has over 135 years of experience providing humanitarian aid including more than 75 years of supplying blood to those in need. Each pint of blood we collect can help save up to three lives and will touch the lives of so many more. What a great way to pay it forward and make an impact on people in our community and across the country.
You can participate by donating blood or by volunteering to help support the event (set-up/clean-up, registration, parking, etc).
Sign up to DONATE blood here:
https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=

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COMING IN 2022

Lucy Terry Price: Witness, Voice, and Poetics within the American Tradition
presented by Vermont Humanities
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022, Online. 7pm.
Register for this talk at www.vermonthumanities.org/stjohnsbury
Beginning with Vermonter Lucy Terry Prince, the first known African American poet in the US, poet Shanta Lee Gander explores creative lineage within poetics. Surveying the work of Phillis Wheatley, Laurence Dunbar, Rita Dove, and slam poet Dominique Christina, Gander considers the poetic arc from the past to the modern moment. 

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The Poetics of Girlhood and Womanhood in America
presented by Vermont Humanities
Wednesday, April 6th, 2022, at Brooks Memorial Library (54 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7pm.
Poets and writers Diana Whitney and Shanta Lee Gander join Christal Brown, associate professor of Dance at Middlebury College, in a conversation that explores how girlhood and womanhood in America are manifested across the boundaries of poetry, dance, and lived experience.

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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Covid 19 Pop-Up Testing

Testing is available for all. 
If you need testing, there are a variety of options available to you: your primary care provider, pop-up test sites and pharmacies. The Test Site Finder below can help you find other testing near you.
HEALTH DEPARTMENT POP-UP TESTING LOCATIONS
Here are the steps to set up a testing appointment at a pop-up testing site:

• Register to get an account
• Receive an email with your patient ID and use that to confirm your account (check your spam folder if you don't see the email)
• Log in with your patient ID
• Set up an appointment

Register for Pop-Up Testing Here

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FREE HEALTHY AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD IN WINDHAM COUNTY

Brigid’s Kitchen, St. Michael’s Church, 47 Walnut Street, Brattleboro 802-254-6800 or 802-558-6072 
Grab-and-go lunches and fruit/nuts on Mon, Weds, Thus, and Sat, 11:30am-12:20pm.

Loaves and Fishes, Centre Congregational Church 193 Main Street, Brattleboro (802) 254-4730
Grab-and-go lunches on Tuesdays and Fridays at 12pm.

VT Foodbank and Veggie Van Go will be at Brattleboro Union High School (Fairground Ave, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in the parking lot, on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month, from 10am-11am. Drive up, touchless pickup. Walkers welcome, too. Call VT 211 for more information. 

Foodworks, the food shelf program of the Groundworks Collaborative https://groundworksvt.org (802) 490-2412, [email protected] 
Households in need of food are asked to call or email to coordinate delivery. There is an urgent need for volunteers, and Foodworks has set up protocols to keep staff, volunteers, and clients as safe as possible. Please email us at [email protected] if you are able to help.

Guilford Food Pantry 
Every Thursday at the Guilford Fairgrounds. 5pm-6pm.
We know that supplemental food can make such a big difference in one's budget. That is why we are stocking our shelves for our neighbors. All are welcome to come and take home fresh produce, staples, meat, dairy. Guilford Cares welcomes anyone in need of supplemental food for themselves or their families.

Everyone Eats continues, including grab-and-go meals at these times and locations: 

• Thursdays after 5pm at the Retreat Farm farm stand
• Sundays outside of Turning Point from 11am-1pm

Folks receiving services through Foodworks, Loaves and Fishes, and the Brattleboro Community Justice Center can obtain free meals through those organizations.
You can also order Everyone Eats! meals directly from participating restaurants using the Localvore App.

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ADDITIONAL COVID 19 RESOURCES CAN BE FOUND AT THEIR PERMANENT HOME ON OUR WEBSITE, HERE: https://www.wecantogether.net/covid19_resources

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RESOURCE FOR WeCAN

Rapid Response Text Alert System

When WeCAN began, Song & Solidarity set up a Rapid Response Text Alert System for WeCAN Groups. Directions for signing up are on WeCAN's website, here: https://www.wecantogether.net/rapid_response. We are grateful to Song and Solidarity for providing this service.

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ONGOING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING 

Indigo Radio
Sundays at 12pm on Brattleboro Community Radio 107.7FM. To stream live, visit: www.wvew.org 
Indigo Radio, deepening understanding and making connections! IndigoRadio is a group of area educators seeking to learn through engaging with others in our community and throughout the world. We will be talking about educational and social issues both globally and locally and connecting them to our lives and Brattleboro community. Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigoradiowvew/. For archive recordings of past shows: https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353. 

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  Covid cases are on the rise again, friends. We remind you to please mask up when gathering indoors and in large crowds outdoors. Please get vaccinated or get your booster if applicable! We can't wait to see you at an event or meeting in the near future! 

Your Friendly WeCAN Editor,

Joanna