2020 MVUUF Teen Trek to UU-UNO Spring Seminar

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UU Connection
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UPDATE Mar 13, 2020: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this campaign has been closed. Any pledges made will NOT be processed. Thank you.

In light of recent developments with COVID-19, the UU-UNO has cancelled the in-person events for the Spring Seminar. Our MVUUF Teen Group will not be making the trip. Thanks to those who were willing to donate!

Original Description follows for archive purposes.

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SUPPORTING A NEW GENERATION OF

CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTIVISTS

Your donation to this project will fund travel expenses for youth and sponsors to attend the 2020 UU-UNO Intergenerational Spring Seminar in New York City. Our youth and sponsors have each funded their own registration fees. Your Faithify donations will go towards transportation, meals, and other associated expenses for the trip as they travel from Dayton, OH to New York City. We have set our fundraising goal to match projected expenses, and we need $500 per traveler to cover our costs. Any extra funds raised this year will be put to use in future trips as we seek to make this a biennial event for the youth in our congregation.

The 2020 UU-UNO Intergenerational Spring Seminar theme is “All In For Climate Justice: People, Power, Planet.” The conference will take place April 16-18 in New York City. Through worship, panel discussions, skills-building workshops, and small-group collaboration, participants will learn and grow together as they explore UU centered responses to vital global climate challenges.

This year, we have six youth (Avery, Travis, Zane, Matthew, Yemaya, and Genna) and three adult sponsors (Shaun, Richard, and Lathe) registered to attend. This record attendance from our congregation is the best indication of the value of the conference to our youths’ growth in social activism. MVUUF Youth who participate in the trip will:

Gain deeper understanding of the UU-UNO’s climate justice work with the United Nations and the world
Develop a broader sense of UU community as they connect with UU youth from across the country and other nations who share similar values
Practice leadership skills by engaging the MVUUF congregation in the UU-UNO mission upon their return

Some pictures from last year’s trip are included below!

Project UU Connection

This project supports Miami Valley UU Fellowship congregational youth and sponsors attendance at the 2020 Intergenerational Spring Seminar of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO). The UU-UNO conducts an annual spring seminar to support its role as the office responsible for carrying out UUA's engagement with the United Nations (UN) as an accredited UN non-governmental organization (NGO).

Our youth involvement in the seminar will continue to be the foundation for our congregation's participation in UU-UNO activities, informing our members of those activities every year at our annual UN Sunday service. Last year, our youth attended the conference and brought back a deeper appreciation for the UU-UNO's work on gender equity. Our youth group developed, led, and conducted our congregation's UN Sunday service on November 3, 2019. One of our youth who attended last year gave the sermon as a reflection on his attendance. Through our youth's leadership, congregational engagement with UU-UNO activities will continue to grow.

More information on the UU-UNO can be found at https://www.uua.org/international-justice/un

More information on the details of the spring seminar can be found at https://www.uua.org/international-justice/un/spring-seminar