Atheist Volunteers

If you've ever wondered what happens to nonperishable food that is mislabeled or slightly damaged, some members of the Beltway Atheists can tell you. On Sunday, March 1, 18 members of the Beltway Atheists volunteered at the Capitol Area Food Bank (CAFB) in Washington, DC.

The CAFB primarily serves as a distribution center for surplus food, distributing 20 million pounds of food ever year to over 700 partner agencies. While there are many different sources of this bounty of surplus food, some comes from food drives or in enormous bins of slightly damaged packages from grocery stores. All of this food needs special and careful handling before it can be distributed to partner agencies according to their needs.

After arriving at the food bank, Beltway Atheists members were shown an orientation video about hunger in the community and given instructions for their task of the day: packaging sorted food items into smaller boxes. For the next three hours, they pored through metal bins that were waist-high and several feet wide in order to neatly pack each box with variety of food in the same category (pasta, pantry goods, canned meats, etc). Boxes were taped shut, labeled with markers, and neatly stacked against the warehouse wall. After the warehouse was swept clean to guard against pests, they were done for the day.

It was a fun and social way -- and perhaps more important, a useful way -- to spend a Sunday morning. In the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, 633,000 people are experiencing hunger or are at risk for it. Of these, 200,000 are children. All of us are faced with a choice: we can hope that the world will get better and ask an imaginary friend to make that happen, or we can take actions that have a tangible effect. This past Saturday, the Charitable Works Committee of Beltway Atheists voted to return to the food bank quarterly.

This article was written by Michigoose - Co-Chair of the Charitable Works Committee. More information on this event is available here.

Lynchburg Area Secular Humanists have adopted a section of road on Main Street in Lynchburg (parallel to Church Street). Their first clean-up is scheduled for February 22nd!

The Charitable Works Committee of Beltway Atheists is also in the process of adopting a section of road in Northern Virginia!

On the 67th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th 2008 a small group of about a dozen dedicated activists, or more to the point Atheists, Agnostics, and Secular Humanists got together in Dupont Circle park in our Nation's Capital to kick off a larger effort to reach out to the homeless community, as well as other community service related projects in the future such as blood drives and bone marrow donations. On this day sweaters were handed out to the homeless community that were donated by American Atheists Inc., and these particular sweaters honored the Atheistic, Agnostic, and Secular Humanistic men and women who currently serve in the United States Armed Forces, and those similar men and women who have died on the field of battle protecting our rights as American Citizens. Specifically the sweaters had an American Flag front and center with the inscription "Atheists in Foxholes". As we all know many of the men and women who make up our nation's homeless population are military vets. Adorned on the front of the canopy the group set up was a large sign donated by the American Humanist Association which was part of a larger, very successful ad campaign that stated "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake". The group of activists also handed out festive packets tied together with brightly colored ribbons and topped with a decorative bow that contained a special Holiday message, along with information about local and national Atheist, Agnostic, and Secular Humanist groups. In all 50 plus sweaters were handed out along with 100 plus information packets.

This article was written by Jeff Wismer; Jeff is responsible for organizing this event. Pictures are available here.

If you would like to log your good deeds, in addition to responding to this post with a comment, you can log them here....

The Atheist Good Deed Recorder

This information is being featured on this site to make it easier for atheist volunteers to find info. Jcravens42 has posted info on charities we might want to work with as atheist volunteers, here is the thread.

Howdy. I joined the Rational Responders network specifically to provide any support I can regarding volunteerism to atheists who want to make a difference in causes they believe in. With the increasing popularity and promotion of faith-based community action, I think atheists can feel left out, and they shouldn't; we have values and passions, and we want to give back to our communities just as much as anyone.

So, for my first post to the group, I will start with a list of web sites that list volunteering opportunities in the USA:

VolunteerMatch, http://www.volunteermatch.org

Idealist, http://www.idealist.org

Change.org, http://www.change.org

CraigsList, http://www.craigslist.com

Network for Good, http://www.networkforgood.org

http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/

ServeNet, http://servenet.org/

There's also your local volunteer center; you can find this via the Points of Light Foundation web site,
http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/

There's also this government sponsored site, http://volunteer.gov/gov/ which provides volunteer positions through USA federal land agencies like Fish & Wildlife, Forest Service, National Parks, etc.

If you want to be a volunteer to help with the consequences of a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina, you need to register and prepare NOW. Here's a web site where you can register and start your preparation so that you can help the next time disaster strikes:
http://www.helpindisaster.org/

 I would be interested to hear any of your stories about volunteering -- why you do it, what you have enjoyed, etc. -- and if you have ever faced any problems volunteering because of your atheism. 

 You can read more about me via my web site

We are helping to raise money for Luci, an author at thejesusmyth.com. For those of you that have not heard yet, her son faces deportation for something that is extremely stupid. No, he is not an illegal. Please read the post to understand the background of what is going on.

We are raising funds for her so that she can afford representation for her son who faces deportation. People have already asked to donate funds to her for that purpose, so we have the widget you see to the right set up to collect funds for for her. All funds will be directly placed into Luci’s PayPal account upon submission.

From Luci~

The funds will be appropriated for legal fees and expenses related to prevention of Erhard being deported.

We have retained an immigration lawyer at $200 per hour. Practice Areas: Labor and Employment Law (Maritime and Airline Labor Law); Immigration and Naturalization Law; Commercial Litigation, Grievances, Mediation and Arbitration; Corporate, Insurance and Administrative Law; Contract Negotiation and Interpretation; Representation Disputes Before the National Mediation Board; Utility and Trade Association Law.
Mr Meltz regards this matter as extremely serious and urgent. He will analyze the situation and present us with options.
We have our first phone conference scheduled for Wednesday,Dec 26.

Please help as you can. I know that the holidays tend to drain the wallets of everyone but anything you can do will help. We have set a goal of $5,000. I know that this is only a fraction of what may be needed, but it is just a goal. If we meet it, we can go beyond that figure. Thank you for your support.

A message from a friend of ours. Please check out his site devoted to helping understand autism:

Hi, my name is Staks Rosch and I run a web site called DangerousTalk.net. And while it is important to me to help show that atheists care about people and are willing to donate time and money for charitable causes, that isn't the reason why I put this site together. My niece, Samara Klein is four and a half years old and has autism. My sister and her husband are doing everything they can for Samara, but she still isn't potty trained and can barely talk. However, over the last year, Samara has started to make some progress. This is in part because of the research being done on autism and some of Samara's dietary changes that were a result of that research. Science isn't sure what causes autism yet and no one is sure how best to treat it. Your help in joining this effort can make the difference for my niece and many others.
You can also get an Atheists for Autism Research shirt for autism walks at cost from Cafepress.com/atheistsautism

OPERATION FOXHOLE
ATHEISTS
ATHEIST SOLDIERS IN IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN
Need Your Help and Support!

PLEASE HELP US MEET OUR FIRST DEADLINE OF SEPTEMBER 22!
September 22nd is our first shipment in support of foxhole atheists.
We will continue to add names and send out more packages.
Check back in for updates!

Blair Scott, the Alabama State Director for American Atheists and the North Alabama Freethought
Association (NAFA) are putting together care packages for atheist soldiers stationed in Iraq/Afghanistan.
This event is called OPERATION FOXHOLE
ATHEISTS (OFA).

OFA started after hearing about several atheist soldiers in Iraq that attempted to start a group at their Forward
Operating Base (FOB). They were harassed by a major that threatened to go after them with the UCMJ (Uniform Code of
Military Justice). The soldiers did not violate the UCMJ at all. In fact, the major, by misusing his rank to harass
the soldiers and try to trump their attempt to exercise their right in the military to the freedom of religion,
violated the UCMJ directly.

We, as most American citizens should be, were deeply upset by this turn of events. We decided to help these soldiers
by showing our support and sending them care packages and letters of support. That small initial event has now turned
into a national effort to help support any atheist in the foxhole. OFA will send these soldiers care packages with
needs and wants, as well as supporting letters from around the nation. But OFA needs your help!

* Donate goods at any upcoming NAFA event or via postal mail.

* Donate money to help purchase goods and pay for shipping costs.

* Send letters and cards to OFA to be forwarded to foxhole atheists.

* Tell us about foxhole atheists so they can receive care packages from OFA.

Please help OFA support foxhole atheists. No matter what your views may be concerning the war in Iraq or Afghanistan,
it is clear that politicians are the problem: not the soldiers. Let these foxhole atheists know we care about them.
Sending the foxhole atheists packages of hard-to-find items and letters and cards with words of comfort and support
will help make their time in the war zone feel a little more like home. These soldiers go day-to-day without praying
to any of the man-made gods. They get their comfort from reality, and from people like you that care.

Due to sensitivity for the privacy of our foxhole atheists, to reduce the risk of physical harm, and to maintain
Operational Security (OpSec), the names, addresses, and specific FOB of the foxhole atheists will not be disclosed
to the public.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO ADD A FOXHOLE ATHEIST TO THE OFA LIST:
Send an email with the rank, name, and address to:
Yvonne Muniz
Coordinator, Operation Foxhole Atheists.
Assistant Organizer, NAFA

TO DONATE GOODS TO OFA:
Donate goods at any upcoming NAFA event.
Send goods via postal mail. DO NOT use UPS or FedEx, use the US Postal Service only.
Operation Foxhole Atheists
PO BOX 41
Ryland, AL 35767-2000

TO DONATE MONEY TO OFA:
Donate cash at any upcoming NAFA event.
Donate via PayPal by going to NAFA's website: http://www.alabamaatheist.org/

Because we do not have an EIN from the IRS, we cannot accept checks or money orders written to OFA. If you are
comfortable writing a money order or cashier's check (no personal checks please) out to an individual that will
transfer the money to OFA, please contact Yvonne Muniz, Coordinator, Operation Foxhole Atheists.

TO SEND LETTERS AND CARDS:
Operation Foxhole Atheists
PO BOX 41
Ryland, AL 35767-2000

For press inquiries, please contact Blair Scott
Alabama State Director, American Atheists.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (256) 513-5877

Ever diligent, EARTHWARD has supplied Atheist Volunteers with a new update of their plans for the Okello family:


EARTHWARD has been working to restore a family of Ugandan refugees fleeing attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army to full self-sufficiency. Donations thus far have been largely consumed by their immediate needs, such as food, water and medicine, Unfortunately,little has been left over for the more long term goals of relocating them to a safer area, and helping them re-acquire a means of earning their own livelihood. In order to accelerate progress in this area, we have launched a sponsorship program. The program is similar to some offered by certain religious organizations, with the exceptions that it is equally available to all, regardless of religion, or lack thereof, and that we do not proselytize to the sponsored children,
nor their families. Perhaps you have considered sponsoring a child before, but did not want any part of your donations used for religious indoctrination. Here is an opportunity for two familiesof diverse cultures and circumstances, to learn from each other.
For details of the plan, please see:

http://earthward.org/okellokids.shtml


Also, please read the details of this families tragic ordeal at:


http://earthward.org/refugee.shtml


It is our hope that the sponsorship program will cover most, if not all of the family's immediate needs, so that other donations can be devoted to the longer term goals. If the program is successful, it may be expanded to include other children in similar circum- stances, in the future. Please contact [email protected] if you would be interested in sponsoring one of these children, or if you have any questions.

Rich Rodriguez has started a site with news concerning charitable efforts throughout the world.

http://www.workswithoutfaith.org

Rich's tagline for the site says it all in my opinion:
"Hands that help are far better than lips that pray"