Director of Ethical Education Blog
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we won't be able to meet at our usual stream cleanup location. Fortunately(?) I pretty much guarantee that if you walk outside and look around, you can find a space to clean up!
On Sunday morning (or anytime this weekend when rain doesn't stop you) please take some time to put on some long sleeves, long pants, and thick gloves, grab a trash bag (and a recycling bag, and a compost bag if you can) and start collecting.
I'd love any pictures that you take of your local cleanup! Text them to me or email them to dee@noves.org. I'll also create a post on Facebook and you can add them into the comments there. We'll use this pictures during our Spring Festival on 4/7!
Thank you to all who joined us last week for our platform about the work our Ethical Teens are doing with La Mano Amiga. As promised, here is the information about our upcoming fundraiser!
April 11, 5:00pm Johnny Pistola's 2333 18th St NW Washington, DC 20009
Your $50 in-person ticket includes an open bar. You can also join virtually for $25!
Get Tickets Here!
Did you know that over the past year, our Ethical Teens have helped adult orphans in Honduras change their lives by building new businesses, providing safe homes for their families, or expanding their ability to earn a living? Through their work with La Mano Amiga, a non-profit started by Jessica Tyndall, who came up through NoVES!
I hope you can join us in person or virtually to learn more about La Mano Amiga, the work they've done, and how you can help.
This platform will have an interactive component, so come prepared to participate and practice making the hard choices that we've been making each month for the past year.
Don't worry, even though I'll be delivering the platform on Sunday, we'll still have activities for our Ethical Kids. Thanks to Melissa for stepping in and helping out!
This month, the kids focused on talking about how we show love to others (for example, by serving them ice cream!) For our ethical action this month, we encourage you all to keep that theme going by writing letters through Love for Our Elders. Each month, this organization highlights some folks who would love to connect with others through letters. This is a small way to make someone's day, and I hope you'll consider taking some time out of your day to brighten someone else's.
I will be hosting a site to the west of our regular meeting space, in Ashburn. Join me at Blend Coffee Bar from 11:00-12:00, where I'll have materials to write letters.
Sunday is one of our favorite days of the year -- Darwin Day! The kids will be serving banana splits in a somewhat roundabout but still relevant celebration of Charles Darwin. Our sign-up form is here and I would appreciate any help with toppings that we can get!
I'm coming in hot today with another ask! For our ethical action this month, we will be writing letters to seniors through Love for our Elders. We'd love for people to "host" a meeting at a local cafe. I'm planning to host one in the Centreville area and would love insight into what location works best for everyone who is planning to join in that area. Would someone be willing to host something closer to Falls Church or Vienna? I'll bring supplies on Sunday, so you just have to bring them and show up!
On 2/18, we're having our Darwin Day platform. That means banana splits served by our Ethical Kids! No matter who you are, you can help us bring this tradition to life.
Are you an adult attending platform? Amazing! You can sign up to bring something on this handy dandy Google Sheet!
Are you a teen who has aged out of the regular program but is willing to come help us serve banana splits? You're my hero -- ask your parents to let me know that you're coming!
Are you a kid? Get your scooping arm ready -- the big day is coming up!
As I mentioned last time we met up, we have a special guest teacher for our class on Sunday — Kimberly!! Kimberly is taking over for me while I take a weekend away in Brooklyn.
It’s the perfect week for it too! The kids will be making Valentine’s Day cards for family members or close friends, so Kimberly’s artistic skills and creativity will make for a great class!
When I return on the 18th, we’ll talk about showing love to people outside of that inner circle, expanding to more distant friends or acquaintances. This will lead right into our ethical action this month — writing letters to seniors (details coming soon!)
I hope you all have a wonderful 3-day weekend and take some time to reflect on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When we meet at Green Hedges on 1/21, we'll have an ethical education class dedicated to talking about how we can further his work in our everyday lives.
On Monday, I plan to attend the annual Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation March for Unity and Freedom at 10am. If you'd like to meet up, please email or text me and we'll see you there!
You can register in advance on Eventbrite to reserve your space.
Our All-Music Platform is almost here! This week, our kids will stay with the adults and enjoy a platform full of music.
One thing I really appreciate about NoVES is how intentionally we blend our adult and children programming. We saw this earlier in December when our members helped the kids with their ethical action project, and I'm looking forward to everyone spending time together this Sunday.
Thank you to the many of you who donated items from our Amazon Wishlist to pack into care bags. We had an incredible amount of donations and Josie and Abby were excellent packers. We were able to talk about why each item was important and they worked together to fill each bag. On Sunday ask we talk about what brings us hope, the energy that I felt from all of you around this ethical action has certainly been a light in the darkness.
Speaking of lights, I know many of our NoVES families celebrate multiple holidays this time of year. For those of you who celebrate, Happy Hanukkah!
