Social Outreach

The Winchester Unitarian Society has an active Social Outreach Committee.  In addition, we have a Welcoming Congregation Committee and a youth group (WUSY-G) that has led the way in social justice projects.

Social Outreach Grants for fiscal year 2010-2011
The Social Outreach Committee (SOC) has made the following changes in the Social Outreach Grant process this year. 

1)  The SOC has stopped the practice accepting Social Outreach Grant applications submitted directly by non-profit organizations.

2)  The SOC invites members of The Winchester Unitarian Society to recommend to the SOC non-profit organizations for Social Outreach Grants, via completion of the new Recommendation Form.  Members may download this form from the Members section of this website or obtain a paper copy at church.

3)  Winchester Unitarian Society staff and the SOC as an entity also may make grant recommendations.

4)  The SOC will make its grant decisions based on the grant recommendations plus additional information obtained by the SOC and the SOC’s own judgment.  A recommendation or comment given to the SOC is only one element the Committee will take into account in its deliberations.

5)  The deadline for submitting a Grant Recommendation for the current fiscal year is Sunday, April 10, 2011.

Share-the-Plate Program
In September 2010, The Winchester Unitarian Society instituted the practice “sharing the plate” each Sunday with a specific charity.  This means that we give 50 percent of the cash and checks that are not designated for a specific purpose (such as a pledge payment or other named type of gift) to a charity and the other half goes to the church’s operating budget.  Response to this program has been extremely positive.

The Social Outreach Committee invites members of the congregation, our staff and Co-Ministers to recommend charities for its consideration in developing a list of organizations that are approved to share the plate.  The Co-Ministers use this list as their source to select a recipient for any given service.

To recommend a charity, please complete the Recommendation Form (the same form as is used to make a Grant Recommendation is designed to accommodate Share-the-Plate Recommendations as well) and forward it to the Social Outreach Committee c/o the church office.

Questions:       Call the church office: 781-729-0949 or email:   socialoutreach@winchesteruu.org