February 2012 News Events
Groups honor ‘watershed heroes’ Feb. 18
American Indian Movement leader speaks
March for Meals planned during March
Women in Agriculture event set on Feb. 16
Fund-raising workshop will be on Feb. 9
Valley food bank plans concert Feb. 10
Interfaith Council shows ‘Globalized Soul’
Family Promise North Idaho shares quilts
Activist is keynote speaker for PJALS event, Feb 17-18
Three nonprofits collaborate to provide free health care services for low-income women
Reflection on history, future and faith - Whitworth’s Heritage Month brings concert, lectures, films
Gonzaga’s Black History Month events address visionaries, bigotry and activism
Group holds benefit on International Women’s Day March 8
Catholics plan Advocacy Day Feb 4
Benefit provides for senior meals Feb 14
Guatemalan shares stories of women Feb 11
Nonprofit training planned for Feb. 16
Groups honor ‘watershed heroes’ Feb. 18
The Upper Columbia Group Chapter of Sierra Club will celebrate the Spokane River and honor people who have contributed to conservation advocacy in the Spokane River watershed at “Winter Waters 2012” from 6:30 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Patsy Clark Mansion, 2208 W. Second Ave.
The 2012 watershed heroes are former Spokane Mayor Mary Verner, for her commitment to water stewardship and sustainability in service to the city from 2003 to 2011, and Deb Abrahamson, founder of the tribal grassroots environmental organization, the SHAWL (Sovereignty, Health, Air, Water and Land) Society, as a voice for protecting the environment and cultural values in the cleanup of uranium contamination on the Spokane reservation.
The event will support advocacy for the Spokane River by the Sierra Club and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy.
For information, call 209-2899 or email john@waterplanet.ws or rsvp@celp.org .
American Indian Movement leader speaks
American Indian Movement co-founder Clyde Bellecourt will speak in the Inland Northwest from Feb. 1 to 7.
In 1968, he became the first chair and is still national director of the American Indian Movement (AIM).
Clyde, now 75, and his late brother Vernon Bellecourt, along with Dennis Banks, Russell Means, still-imprisoned Leonard Peltier, the late Anna Mae Aquash, Ward Churchill and others organized the 1972 AIM takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building in Washington, D.C., and the 1973 Indian occupation followed by a government siege of Wounded Knee in South Dakota.
Clyde has worked to bring social, economic and political justice to Native nations.
Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) is hosting him to speak at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 4, at All Saints Lutheran Church, 314 S. Spruce.
He will also speak at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2, at the Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene. For information, call 208-769-3365
Clyde will also meet with Native elders and the Spokane Tribal College in Wellpinit to talk about AIM.
Over the years, he has helped found several government-funded and business-supported Indian-focused services, such as legal and jobs programs, health clinics, an Indian education system, and a housing complex.
Today he directs The Heart of the Earth, Inc., interpretive center in Minneapolis.
In May 2010 he addressed the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and, in December 1974, he addressed the World Council of Churches in Montreux, Switzerland.
For information, call 624-4712, email rzeller@cet.com or visit aimovement.org.
March for Meals planned during March
The Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels will hold Church Soup Suppers as part of its March for Meals during March.
In March the national Meals on Wheels raises awareness and funds to for senior hunger.
In the region, the Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels (GSCMOW) will go to churches, bringing a meal and talking about what they do, said Pam Almeida, executive director.
“It’s a time to educate the community about our services,” she said, hoping for the congregations to pass on information about the programs so the GSCMOW can better connect those in need with its services.
The March for Meals national campaign, initiated by Meals On Wheels Association of America, raises awareness about senior hunger and urges action through events, partnerships with businesses, volunteer recruitment and fund raising.
In 2012, Meals On Wheels programs are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the inclusion of Senior Nutrition Programs in the Older Americans Act, federal legislation supporting nutrition services for Americans aged 60 and older, said Pam.
The Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels operates Valley MOW, Lilac City MOW, Deer Park MOW, Cheney MOW, South County MOW and Silver Café.
For information, call 924-6976.
Women in Agriculture event set on Feb. 16
Washington State University Extension is holding a Women in Agriculture Conference, “Women, Farms and Food,” on Saturday, Feb. 16, simultaneously in 16 county locations in Washington.
The event gathers women to share stories and advice related to management skills and networking opportunities with other women entrepreneurs in agriculture said Jo Lynne Seufer, risk management specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Spokane Regional Office .
Lyn Garling of Over the Moon farm will share about being a woman farmer who started late in life. Rita Emmet, author of “The Procrastinator’s Handbook,” will talk on overcoming procrastination to be more successful at work, in relationships and in life.
At each of the WSU Extension office locations, which include Kennewick, Wenatchee, Republic, Goldendale, Nespelem, Spokane and Colville, plus at the Real Estate Marketplace in Deer Park, Walla Walla Community College and Yakima Community College, local presenters will discuss local issues, market trends and production methods.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the WSU Extension Western Center for Risk Management Education are sponsors.
For information, call 745-8531, email jo.lynne.seufer@rma.jusda.gov or visit www.womeninag.wsu.edu.
Fund-raising workshop will be on Feb. 9
Greater Spokane Progress is presenting a workshop on “How to Be a Development Director When You’re Not One: Effective Strategies for Successful Fund Raising” from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Saranac Building third floor conference room at 25 W. Main.
The event will build confidence and help participants explore strategies in raising money and fund raising.
For information, call 624-5657.
Valley food bank plans concert Feb. 10
Spokane Valley Partners’ Food Bank is holding a benefit concert, “Journeys,” with local professional and amateur musicians at 7 p.m, Friday, Feb. 10, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 4521 N. Arden Rd., in Otis Orchards.
There will be vocal, choral and piano works from classical, popular, country and jazz music.
For information, call 926-7133.
Interfaith Council shows ‘Globalized Soul’
The Spokane Interfaith Council is sponsoring a presentation of “Globalized Soul,” a film calling humanity to step into oneness followed by a discussion at 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4340 W. Fort Wright Dr. For information, call 928-4400 or email norhcs@comcast.net.
Family Promise North Idaho shares quilts
As part of the national Family Promise’s partnering with the Company Store, a 101-year-old manufacturer of down bedding in Wisconsin, Family Promise of North Idaho will receive 300 comforters in February to distribute to local homeless children, said Cindy Wood, executive director.
In January, the store matched each purchase of a comforter with a donation to one homeless child in America in their “Buy One Give One” program.
For information, call 208-777-4190 or visit www.thecompanystore.com.
Activist is keynote speaker for PJALS event, Feb 17-18
Community organizer and political activist Steve Williams will speak at the Peace and Economic Justice Action Conference Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4340 W. Ft. George Wright Dr.
There will be a reception and performances from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Friday. Saturday will include Steve’s presentation, a “young Activist Leaders” panel discussion and education for action workshops.
Steve was the founder and until January was the executive director of POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), a 15-year-old organization of low-income and working class African Americans and immigrant Latina women working for racial, gender and economic justice in San Francisco.
Steve has also worked to re-build the left in the United States, helping to build anti-war efforts in Grassroots Global Justice, a national network of more than 60 organizations.
In 2005 with three co-workers, he authored Towards Land, Work and Power: Charting a Path of Resistance to U.S.-led Imperialism, a political economy and strategy primer for organizers.
The event is sponsored by the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, in conjunction with more than 14 sponsors.
Workshops will include power building, leadership development, the middle class, economic justice, a state public bank, death penalty abolition, police accountability, costs of war, event planning, persuading others, radical inclusivity, intergenerational discussion, poetry, theatre activism, community economic development, community gardening, Palestine and Israel, democratization in the Middle East, imperial U.S., post-war Iraq and long term vision.
For information, call 838-7870 or visit pjals.org.
Three nonprofits collaborate to provide free health care services for low-income women
With funding from Empire Health Foundation, three local nonprofits will collaborate to provide free health services to low-income and homeless women in Spokane.
The program, Access to Health and Hope, will provide registered nursing consultation and treatment to women served by Transitions’ Women’s Hearth and Volunteers Of America’s Hope House.
The Women’s Hearth and Hope House, both in downtown Spokane, serve hundreds of homeless women each month—the Hearth during the day and Hope House overnight, said Carlene Schwab of Transitions.
The third nonprofit, Christ Clinic/Christ Kitchen, will provide the services, becoming a “medical home” for uninsured women who come to Hope House and the Hearth.
The program will also provide education through classes at the Women’s Hearth on health-related topics and preventive care.
Once a homeless woman establishes her “medical home” at Christ Clinic, she may qualify for free mental health services as well, Carlene said.
She explained that there is “a circular cause-and-effect relationship” between homelessness and health care.
“Receiving health care can result in homelessness when hospital or medication costs eat up rent money,” she said. “Homeless people are three to six times more likely to become ill and need health services than people who are housed, according to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council in 2008.
“Finding health care is a tremendous challenge for uninsured and under-insured low-income and homeless women served by Transitions’ Hearth and VOA’s Hope House,” said Carlene.
By providing women a medical home, Access to Health and Hope should also reduce the burden on local emergency rooms where many of the women now go for medical treatment, including primary care and mental health services, she said.
For information, call 328-6702 or email cschwab@help4women.org.
Reflection on history, future and faith - Whitworth’s Heritage Month brings concert, lectures, films
Throughout February, Whitworth University’s Heritage Month will explore “Whitworth in the ‘70s.”
Events marking its 122nd anniversary will include a gospel concert on Feb. 10, a film festival Feb. 16 to 18, and a lecture on “Expo ‘74 and the Transformation of Spokane” on Feb. 22.
Each February, Whitworth commemorates its founding on Feb. 20, 1890.
At 11 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 2, in Cowles Auditorium, the annual Founder’s Day Convocation will gather students, faculty and staff to remember Whitworth’s past and dedicate themselves to building upon that legacy in the coming year. Speakers are provost and executive vice president Michael LeRoy and campus historian and history professor Dale Soden.
A lecture, “The Real Israel: What You Haven’t Heard and Don’t Know,” will be given by Jonathan Adelman, professor of international studies at the University of Denver, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Weyerhaeuser Hall. He is author of The Rise of Israel: A History of a Revolutionary State (2008) and is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, in Washington, D.C.
There will be a discussion on “The Lindaman Era: Whitworth in the ‘70s” at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 9, in Weyerhaeuser Hall. During that era Whitworth’s 14th president was Christian futurist Edward Lindaman, who was previously in the aerospace industry. The speakers are two 1970s Whitworth alumni and friends, Glen Hiemstra, 1971, founder and owner of Futurist.com for strategic planning, and the Rev. Dave Brown, 1976, the pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Tacoma. He left parish ministry in the 1990s to serve on the staff of the National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education.
The 15th annual Gospel Explosion concert will be at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 10, in the Seeley Mudd Chapel. Whitworth students and choirs from throughout Spokane will gather for the annual campus celebration of Black History Month, sponsored by the Black Student Union.
At 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 12, the Whitworth Choir, Women’s Choir and Men’s Chorus will perform a Valentine’s Day concert at Whitworth Community Presbyterian Church.
Writer, lecturer and founder of Ikon Peter Rollins will give a lecture on “Christianity and the Death of the Idol” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Weyerhaeuser Hall. Ikon is a faith group that creates “transformance art” with live music, imagery, theatre, ritual and reflection.
The fourth annual Leonard A. Oakland Film Festival Feb. 16 to 18 in Weyerhaeuser Hall pays tribute to Oakland, a professor of English and a member of the Core 250 team. He has taught at Whitworth for 46 years. The university is creating an endowment in his name to fund the annual film festival.
The films include the premiere showing of a 2011 documentary, “What Poor Child Is This?” produced by Whitworth President Beck Taylor and directed by T. N. Mohan. It will be shown at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16.
The film investigates the plight of poor children in America. It features insights from national authorities on ending childhood poverty and suggestions for improving the future of America’s poor.
An art exhibit, “Smoke and Mirrors,” showcasing the work of Whitworth’s art faculty, runs through Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Lied Center for Visual Arts, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday.
“Infinitesimal,” an art exhibit by Gerri Sayler, opens at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21 with a reception in the Lied Art Center, followed by a lecture by the artist at 6 p.m. The exhibit will run through April 5.
William Youngs, a professor at Eastern Washington University and author of The Fair and the Falls: Spokane’s Expo ‘74, Transforming an American Environment (1996), will speak on “Expo ‘74 and the Transformation of Spokane” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 22, in Weyerhaeuser Hall.
He will chronicle the planning and expectation of Expo ‘74, which transformed downtown Spokane, the smallest city to have hosted a World’s Fair. He will also highlight Whitworth’s role in the fair.
Former Spokane Mayor Mary Verner will give the Great Decisions Lecture on “The Geopolitics of Energy” at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23, in Weyerhaeuser Hall. She has a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale and a J.D. in environmental law from Gonzaga.
For information call 777-4250 or visit www.whitworth.edu/heritagemonth.
Gonzaga’s Black History Month events address visionaries, bigotry and activism
Gonzaga University has planned several events for Black History Month during February.
Tim Wise, a social-justice writer and educator, will speak at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Cataldo Hall. He was recently named by Utne Reader as one of “25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.” He has spoken at more than 600 college campuses and in Canada and Bermuda on issues of comparative racism, race and education, racism and religion, and racism in the labor market.
The 2001 movie, “Mooz-lum,” will be shown at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 10, in the Foley Center Teleconference Room. The movie follows a college student from a strict Muslim household facing life after Sept. 11.
After the film, Vik Gumbhir, Gonzaga associate professor of sociology, will lead a discussion sponsored by Gonzaga’s Unity Multicultural Education Center (UMEC) and the Student Wellness Resource Center.
UMEC and Gonzaga’s Black Student Union and Young Democrats will sponsor “The Melding of Spiritual Activism and Social Justice” at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 13, in the Jepson Center’s Wolff Auditorium. The event features Ericka Huggins, an activist, poet, professor and former Black Panther leader and political activist.
Gonzaga’s Black Student Union will present its Annual Dinner, “Back to the Roots,” at 6 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, in Cataldo Hall.
For information, email BSU@zagmail.gonzaga.edu.
The Unity Multicultural Education Center will present a Crafting Unity event, “African Art Showcase,” noon to 2 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 22, on the main floor of Crosby Student Center.
It will also sponsor a Cultural Awareness Night, featuring a Sironka African Art Workshop at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24, in the Jundt Art Center and Museum’s Art Studio.
For information, call 313-4105 or email mondragon@gonzaga.edu.
Group holds benefit on International Women’s Day
For International Women’s Day on March 8, Sheila Fox, a Yiddish/Ladino singer and performer, and other women artists are giving a multi-media presentation, “Women Say Oy!” for International Women’s Day at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 8, at nYnew Bar and Bistro, 232 W. Sprague.
The event will benefit Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Healing in Israel and Palestine.
“As women artists, we are in touch with our spirit wisdom, intuition, pain, joy and desire to see the world become a healthier place for generations to come,” said Sheila, who visited people in Israel and Palestine in May 2011 and plans to return to work with Kairos Institute of Sound Healing in PTSD clinics and offer classes.
For information, call 206-898-5090 or email shejofox@gmail.com.
The Eastern Washington Catholic Advocacy Day will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 4, at St. Anne’s Children and Family Center lower level, 25 W. Fifth Ave.
Sr. Sharon Park, OP, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference (WSCC), will address “Our Consciences—Can They Really Be Formed?” Donna Christenson, WSCC lobbyist, will offer policy briefings.
Catholic Charities clients will tell their stories about “How Services Affect Real People.”
For information, call 358-4273 or email scooper@ccspokane.org.
Benefit provides for senior meals
Mid-CityConcerns/Meals on Wheels Spokane is again partnering with Cinnabon to offer a Valentine’s Day fund raiser on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Proceeds will provide nutrition to homebound seniors, said Mollie Dalpae, executive director.
Each Cinn-a-gram purchased—delivered with a personal message—provides a week of hot meals. Last year, more than 1,200 Cinn-a-gram purchases provided more than 6,000 meals.
Often when volunteers deliver a meal it’s the only time seniors see or speak to someone that day.
For information, call 458-0151 or visit www.mowspokane.org.
Guatemalan shares stories of women
Guatemalan poet Julia Esquivel shares stories of women and communities working to end violence and injustice in a video to shown at a dinner and program at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 11, at the United Church of Christ, 8455 Main St. in Peshashtin.
The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and SAGE, a Wenatchee advocacy program, will present their work with immigrant women and farming communities in Central Washington. For information, call 509-863-7005.
Nonprofit training planned for Feb. 16
The second annual Inland Northwest Nonprofit Conference will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Spokane Masonic Center, 1108 W. Riverside.
There will be opportunities for networking and exhibits, in addition to the keynote lunch speaker, local author, consultant and motivational speaker Deanna Davis.
Sessions will deal with grants, human capital, endowments, succession planning, financial management, marketing in the tech era, board development and more.
For information, call 206-355-7514 or email andrea@aeconsulting.net.
