UPCOMING SCHEDULED LOTTE MEYERSON TIKKUN OLAM PROJECTS:

1^st Friday each month from 1-3 PM @ MANNA– CBHT volunteer team. Contact Wendy Capelouto to help.  (currently suspended)

3^rd Friday each month @ noon – CBHT Vets shelter meal serving. Contact Hilary Paradise to help.  (currently postponed)

June 7^th –13^th Room in the Inn; CBHT cancelled.   Contact Sherrill Zoller for info.

Monday, August 24^th – 4:30 PM, Next L.M. Tikkun Olam Meeting

Insuring Fair and Safe 2020 Elections

With all of the uncertainty during these unusual times, it is not too early to work on what must be done between now and Election Day – Tuesday, November 3, 2020.  We must demand that our state legislatures engage in proper planning and funding for the unprecedented measures needed to insure fair and safe elections during this corona virus pandemic.  We anticipate a huge increase in the use of absentee ballots, perhaps the state even going to all mail-in ballots.  If state legislators opt to keep polling places open in November, they need to add protection and many social guidelines for both voting places and workers.  Such new measures will cost money.

The federal government, through the CARES Act, has allotted North Carolina extra grant money which requires matching state funds to be accessed.  In their April-May short session, the NC Legislature (as of this writing) had not provided such state funding which the NC Board of Elections requested as absolutely necessary for the November elections.  This will not be the usual election process.

At stake in November are not only vital political, economic and moral issues, but an assurance needed that every registered voter will have a totally safe and fair voting experience.  The NC Legislature is scheduled to reconvene as early as mid-May, then again in July and August; and we need you to let them know that without these funds, both voters and election officials may well not have the protection they need to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  Voters may even find their polling place closed due to lack of necessary protection.

Please contact Gov. Roy Cooper, NC Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, NC House Speaker Tim Moore, and your local state legislators to demand that necessary and timely funding for our 2020 elections be added to their agenda.

Please ACT NOW!

 EVERY VOICE EVERY VOTE

As Reform Jews, we believe democracy is strongest when everyone participates – and it suffers when citizens are shut out from the democratic process or choose not to engage.  Every Voice, Every Vote is the Reform Jewish Movement’s 2020 civic engagement campaign, a nonpartisan effort to strengthen our democracy by encouraging everyone to participate in the U.S. election and ensuring that Reform Jewish values are represented in the public square.  The CBHT Tikkun Olam Committee encourages all congregants to get involved in these three focus areas:

Mobilize our Voters: Compelled by Jewish history and values, we take citizenship and the right to vote seriously. With outreach in our congregations and communities, our goal is 100 percent voter participation.

Combat Voter Suppression: For more than a century, RAC has worked with partners to ensure equal voting access.  This year, we’re working in coalition to achieve universal voter access and encourage universal participation.

Engage Student Voters: As part of our dedication to ensuring under-represented groups have a voice in the voting process, we’re working with youth leaders to significantly increase the number of young voters.                     (Adapted from rac.org)

Room in the Inn Host Week for June -- CANCELLED.

When COVID-19 set in, the RITI women were allowed to take up shelter at Harrah's Cherokee Civic Center in town.  As of May 11^th, the women were transferred to a local hotel where they will stay for at least a month.  Whether they remain there after that time remains to be seen, but whatever the situation is for our originally scheduled host week June 7-14, we will not be hosting the women that week.  Our RITI partners at Congregation Beth Israel and St. Mary's Episcopal Church agreed that due to our temple likely to still be on shutdown at that time plus the unlikelihood that it will be safe for volunteers to help out in early June, that we would not be comfortable attempting to host by early June.  Our scheduled June date was our final host week for the 2020 calendar year.

When I asked the RITI director how our temple could still assist the program, we were told that if you would like to donate food you can do that through Asheville Poverty Initiative.  They are working in partnership with the community to provide meals for all 60 clients who will be at the hotel.  They can be reached at ashevillepovertyinitiative@gmail.com.

Thanks, and stay safe everyone.

Sherrill Zoller, RITI liaison for the L.M. Tikkun Olam Committee