Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Beyond Vietnam, 1967

       With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day approaching, WeCAN readers, we have highlighted a few out-of-Windham County events taking place in this week's Email. Take a look and make a plan to get involved in events ranging from outdoor rallies and workshops to at-home streaming art celebrations; there truly is something for everyone this week!

• An event roundup from the Daily Hamspshire Gazette (Northampton, MA area): Rally, Workshops, Virtual Gatherings to Mark MLK Day in Area
• Stone Soup Cafe in Greenfield, MA will host its second annual Pick-Your-Own Film Festival, with a virtual discussion to be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to honor the life and legacy of the iconic civil rights leader. Anyone is invited to watch any or all of the six free streaming movies selected for the event and participate in a Zoom conservation at 6:30pm on Monday to share their feelings about the films, which share a general theme of institutionalized racism within the American criminal justice system. People can register in advance for the discussion HERE. 
• UVM Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration events and lectures can be found here: https://www.uvm.edu/diversity/signature-events/mlk. 
• Dartmouth's Year of Connection: Uniting for Equity Celebration 2022 Join us on Wednesday, January 19 at 6 PM EST for our virtual MLK Keynote featuring Dr. Robert S. Harvey. For more MLK Celebration events, please see the full schedule below or view our 2022 interactive event schedule. For more information, please go to https://www.dartmouth.edu/mlk/.  
• Vermont Tech's MLK Day 2022 semester-long offerings can be found here: https://www.vtc.edu/mlk-day-events-2022/

______

HAPPENING TODAY:
SUNDAY, JANUARY 16TH, 2022

Outside Windham County: Keene, NH
Voting Rights Rally
hosted by Cheshire County Democrats
Sunday, January 16th, 2022 in Central Square (Main Street, Downtown Keene, NH). 2pm-3:30pm. Please dress warmly and wear a mask.
Stand up for Voting Rights. Rally on Sunday, January 16th, 2022 at 2pm in Central Square, Keene. We can't let anti-democratic forces normalize voter suppression/subversion. Join us, and share the event.

______

Outside Windham County: Burlington, VT
Panel Discussion: What Would Dr. King Say If He Was Alive Today?
via The Greater Burlington’s Multicultural Resource Center
Sunday, January 16th, 2022, Online. 3pm.
You can access the panel here:
https://c.themediacdn.com/embed/media/WvsdyS/S0Tyl4LsmNK/dE9wZgs2P2l_5?preview=1
This livestream link will be active a 1/2 hour before the event starts. 
Panel: T.J. Donovan, Moise St. Louis, Chol Dhoor, Henri Sparks, and Bor Yang
Moderator: Patrick Brown
Closing Speaker: Tim Wise

______

HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY, JANUARY 17th, 2022-SUNDAY, JANUARY 23rd, 2022

Vermont Food Bank’s Veggie Van Go Upcoming Schedule
The First and Third Mondays of Every Month in the parking lot across the street from the main entrance to Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-11am. 
Veggie Van Go is a program through the Vermont Foodbank that gives out free produce and local food for people to take home.
January 17th, 2022 (Weather Permitting)
February 7th, 2022
February 21st, 2022
March 7th, 2022
March 21st, 2022

Important information:

• Drive through model- please stay in your vehicles
• If you are walking there: see a Vermont Foodbank associate but please make sure to stay 6 feet back.
• There are no income requirements, registration or paperwork to participate
• You do not need to be present to get food: you may ask someone to pick up on your family's behalf.

______

Outside of Windham County: Burlington, VT
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2022 Celebration: A Musical and Spoken Word Celebration by Clemmons Family Farm
Monday, January 17th, 2022, Online. 12pm.
Stream live on YouTube here: https://www.echovermont.org/events-programs/mlk-day/
ARTiculating the Legacy of MLK Jr.: A Musical and Spoken Word Celebration
Organized by Clemmons Family Farm
Viewers will be immersed in performances by African American and African Diasporic artists that interpret four names given to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—The Drum Major for Peace, The Arc of Justice, The Peacemaker, and The Great Orator.
CEDO in partnership with ECHO, Burlington Parks Rec. and Waterfront (BPRW),  the Fletcher Free Library and Burlington Racial Equity Inclusion and Belonging (REIB) to host the virtual Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Community Celebration.  This event is part of a nationwide initiative to make MLK Day a “day on, not a day off” in which communities engage their citizens in meaningful service and reflection. Due to COVID, this year looks a little different. Come celebrate and learn with us!
Performances by:
Rachel Stevens
Medium: Dance
Performance Theme: The Arc of Justice

Edwin Owusu
Medium: Spoken Word
Performance Theme: The Great Orator

Assane Bayefall and Friends
Medium: Drum
Performance Theme: The Drum Major for Peace

Mikahely
Medium: Guitar
Performance Theme: The Peacemaker

______

Outside Windham County: Jaffrey, NH (Greater Keene County)
Power to Heal: Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday, January 17th, 2022 at The Park Theatre (19 Main Street, Jaffrey, NH). 5pm-6pm.
Free and open to all. Masks required. For more information, please contact Peggy at 603-562-8464.
All are invited to this free community event to reflect on values championed by Dr. King and renew commitment to peace, community, and social justice. The theme for 2022 is “Power to Heal”. Dr. James Waller will deliver the keynote, “Power to Heal: Hope for America’s Deeply Divided Society”. Dr. Waller is Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and chair of the same department at Keene State College and Director of Academic Programs for the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, an international non-governmental organization devoted to atrocity prevention. Dr. Waller is an internationally recognized teacher and scholar in the field of conflict studies and resolution and an award-winning author. The talk will challenge each of us to recommit to Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to build a beloved community. The event will also feature music by Jaffrey-Rindge School District choruses and a special appearance by the dynamic Hutchinson Family Ensemble of Hancock.

______

Mutual Aid Fund Round Table
hosted by Out in the Open
Wednesday, January 19th, 2022, Online. 6:30pm-8:30pm.
Please go HERE to register in advance. There will be ASL and Spanish/English Interpretation and closed captions for this panel. Email [email protected] with any questions. There will be ASL, Spanish/English Interpretation, and closed captions for this panel.
Join  Out in the Open, The Root Social Justice Center, Migrant Justice, The Woven Collective, The Pioneer Valley Workers Center, and Youth Seen to hear an open conversation and reflections on running mutual aid funds throughout the pandemic. There will be space for conversation, questions, and reflections. 
Out in the Open is hosting a community-wide Mutual Aid Fund Round Table for organizers of 6 organizations to share their learnings, experiences, and reflections on opening and running mutual aid funds within their communities. For us, our mutual aid fund has been a place of continuous learning and experimentation. In opening our own Rural QTBIPOC/LGBTQ+ Mutual Aid Fund in the summer of 2020 we were inspired and learned from the mutual aid funds other groups and organizations were starting at the same time. We know we have a lot to learn from each other, and hope by sharing our experiences others building mutual aid funds will find reflections helpful in their process, and that we all can learn in building deeper mutual aid projects in our communities. 
During this two hour round table discussions organizations will share about their mutual aid funds, their processes in creating the fund, financial and legal structures, joyous moments, struggles, and what's next for their work and mutual aid funds! There will be space for community questions and discussion as well. 

______

Climate Action Community Forum
co-hosted by Rep. Emilie Kornheiser and 350 Brattleboro, with panelists from the Vermont Climate Council
Wednesday, January 19th, 2022, Online. 7pm.
Please Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lde-rrz8pGtNCrfqk6DMYQgndViiKM3f1 and see Facebook event page here.
Vermont's Climate Action Plan, released by the Climate Council in December, outlines a number of pathways to address climate change. Join us to discuss the plan and speak up in support of a Just Transition as the plan progresses from strategy to action. It is essential that in the path ahead, the communities most impacted by climate change and an energy transition are prioritized.
On Wednesday, January 19 at 7 – 9 PM, Climate Council members Abbie Corse and Chris Campany will join Representative Emiliy Kornheiser and 350 Brattleboro on Zoom to talk about the council’s recommendations and the work ahead for a just transition. 

______

Guilford Cares FoodPantry
Thursday, January 20th, 2022 at the Guilford Fairgrounds (163 Fairground Rd, Guilford, VT 05301). 3pm-4pm. 
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.

______

UPCOMING EVENTS

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. 

______

Spark Teacher Education Solidarity Film Series: The Agronomist
Friday, February 25th, 2022, Online. 7pm.
Professional development credits available. For more information contact Spark Teacher Education Institute at [email protected]
Zoom Meeting ID: 829 4329 6979
A documentary about Jean Dominique, a journalist, activist, and agronomist in Haiti who was assassinated for the work he did to expose the US backed dictatorship. Haiti’s first independent radio station, Radio Haiti-Inter, represented the thoughts of the common people, and Jean Dominique was the radio host whose voice inspired the spirit of a revolution against Haiti’s dictatorial regime. Optional Reading: The Long Haitian Revolution, by Pierre Labossiere, Margaret Prescod, and Camila Valle. 

______

Film: The Reluctant Radical
hosted by 350 Brattleboro
Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at Epsilon Spires (190 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7pm.
The Reluctant Radical features activist Ken Ward as he confronts his fears and puts himself in the direct path of the fossil fuel industry to combat climate change. We will be joined by Ken with a brief update since the film was completed and time for Q & A.

_____

Youth Centered Art Series with Local BI&POC Artist
hosted by The Root Social Justice Center, Youth 4 Change, and the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center
Tuesday, March 15th, 2022 at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (10 Vernon Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5pm-7pm.
This series is FREE for all youth participants! Food will be provided. Masks are required. Please Register and share your dietary needs at https://forms.gle/D7Mu6c6DEeN9WwsU7
Youth ages 12-22 are invited to participate in the collaborative workshop series between Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Youth 4 Change and local BI&POC Artist Deidra Razzaque.
Youth4Change and Brattleboro Museum are excited to create space that will connect youth of our community with a local BI&POC artist as well as find ways to honor the history of art in activism. We are grateful to artist Deidra Razzaque for her eagerness to share her skillset and creativity with youth as together we share space centered on art and activism.
Next Session: 
Tuesday, May 17th 5:00-7:00pm

______

Aquarela
hosted by 350 Brattleboro
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022 at Epsilon Spires (190 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 7:30pm.
Take a cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. Aquarela is a visceral wake-up call depicting the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element. This event is hosted by Epsilon Spires in celebration of World Water Day. 

______

Spark Teacher Education Solidarity Film Series: Not Just  a Game: Power, Politics, and American Sports
Friday, March 25th, 2022, Online. 7pm.
Professional development credits available. For more information contact Spark Teacher Education Institute at [email protected]
Zoom Meeting ID: 829 4329 6979
American sports have long been at the center of many major political debates and struggles of our time. This documentary traces how American sports have glamorized militarism, racism, sexism, and homophobia, and then excavates a largely forgotten history of rebel athletes who stood up to power and fought for social justice beyond the field of play. Optional Reading: Colin Kaepernick, the Virginia Elections, and the Canary in the Coal Mine, by Dave Zirin.

______

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.

______

Spark Teacher Education Solidarity Film Series: Cowspriacy
Friday, April 29th, 2022, Online. 7pm.
Professional development credits available. For more information contact Spark Teacher Education Institute at [email protected]
Zoom Meeting ID: 829 4329 6979
This is a documentary that interrogates the meat industry’s contribution to the climate crisis. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption, and pollution, and is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry; it is also a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean dead zones, an virtually every other environmental ill. Yet, it goes on, almost entirely unchallenged. Optional Reading: Creating an Ecological Society: Towards a Revolutionary Transformation (Chapter 1: The Social and Ecological Planetary Emergency), by Fred Magdoff and Chris Williams. 

______

Spark Teacher Education Solidarity Film Series: The Boys Who Said No
sponsored by Brooks Memorial Library 
Friday, May 27th, 2022, TBD. 7pm.
Professional development credits available. For more information contact Spark Teacher Education Institute at [email protected]
Zoom Meeting ID: 829 4329 6979
This documentary profiles the young men and women who actively opposed the military draft in order to end the Vietnam War. The film shows how their personal and collective acts of nonviolent resistance, risking arrest and imprisonment for up to 5 years, were a critical part of the antiwar movement, intensifying opposition to the war and eventually forcing an end to both conscription and the war. May be in person, details available soon. 

______

ONGOING EVENTS

Recovery Families
hosted by Turning Point
Fridays at Turning Point of Windham County Recovery Center (39 Elm Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-11am. 
Young children welcome!
Join other caregivers for connection and support of your own recovery journey or that of someone you love. 

______

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES

In Home Covid 19 Vaccines and Boosters

If you are homebound and not able to leave your home for medical services, you can get your COVID-19 vaccination and booster in your home.

• If you are in the service of a local home health agency, the agency will reach out to you to schedule an appointment.
• If you are not in the service of a home health agency, you may request an appointment by calling 802-863-7240 (toll-free 833-722-0860) Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

www.healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine

______

Covid 19 Pop-Up Testing and Vaccinations
Testing and vaccinations are available for all. 
If you need testing or a vaccine, there are a variety of options available to you: your primary care provider, pop-up 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

______

The Village Closet
on the Wintson Prouty Campus (60 Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in Croker Hall.
Open Wednesdays from 4pm-6pm and Saturdays from 10am-12pm, or
by appointment. For more information, please email [email protected]
Your source for free baby, children, and pregnancy clothing/items. Donations of gently used items accepted. We are collecting new and "like new" children's coats and winter gear for our Kids in Coats partnership with United Way of Windham County.  If you have items to donate, please stop by today if you are able!
On Wednesdays, Everyone Eats will be distributing free dinners on campus from 3:30pm-4:30pm.

______

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] 
Foodworks has open hours for curbside pickup on Mondays 11am-4pm, Wednesdays 1pm-6pm, Fridays 12pm-4pm, last Saturday of each month from 9am-12pm. Deliveries are available onTuesdays across Windham county. Please email [email protected] or call 802-490-2412 with any questions!
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.

Marlboro Community Food Share
hosted by the Marlboro Community Center
Wednesday 10am-2pm; Thursday 10am-5pm; Friday 10am-12pm; Saturday 10am-12pm at the Marlboro Community Center (524 South Road, Marlboro, VT, 05344). 
The Marlboro Community Center invites you to fill a bag with non-perishable grocery items. Food is set up in the main space and is available during our open hours. Eggs and produce on Thursdays as available. No registration or eligibility required. Deliveries can be made through Marlboro Cares for those needing assistance. Please call Marlboro Cares at 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)

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.

Putney Foodshelf Weekly Open Hours 
Fridays at Christian Square, Putney, VT, 05346. 1:30pm-3:30pm.
Saturdays at Christian Square, Putney, VT, 05346. 9am-11am. 
Message us on our FB page HERE, call 802.387.8551, or email [email protected] with questions. www.putneyfoodshelf.org
Curbside Open Hours. All are welcome - we just ask you to provide your town of residence and number in household for our data tracking purposes.
Stay in your car, please. Volunteers will take your order and bring out boxes of food, including nonperishable items, fresh produce, paper goods, meat, and dairy products.

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

• There is no longer an Everyone Eats distribution at Turning Point on Sundays, as Edible Brattleboro is dormant in the winter.
• The meals at Retreat Farm are stocked in their farm stand for pick up anytime, first come first serve. We are planning to stock on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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.

______

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

______

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.

______

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. 

______

Remember to mask up, stay home if you are feeling ill, and keep up to date on your vaccines and boosters in 2022. We are all rooting for your health and wellness! 

Your Friendly WeCAN Editors,

Joanna and Sam