Trick or Treat with a Purpose ~ 10.31.07

• Unicef is good.  Standard, but very good.  Got your box already?  If not, there's still time!  You can easily do a zip code search and find the nearest pick-up location (think: your kids' schools).  You can also download tons of great Unicef stuff to make your own collection system, stickers, posters, you name it.  Ever wondered where all the money goes?  Or how much money trick or treaters collect every October ($4.5 million in '06!)?  What Unicef stands for (think United Nations) or how long this trick-or-treating thing has been going on (57 years!!)?? 

Not the Unicef Type?  Prefer to Make a More Local Impact?  Good news!  Here are two local events on the 31st that your family can join up with:

1. Canvass for Kids Health Care in SE!  Ever gotten out the vote in costume?  Never say never, mamas.  Canvass for Measure 50, the Healthy Kids Initiative, while your kids trick-or-treat.  Get yer costumes on and meet up at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Portland office at 3536 SE 26th Avenue (just S of Powell).  Tricks & treats for canvassers of all ages from 4:30-6:30, with the neighborhood canvass launching at 5:30. 

Think you might go?  RSVP by e-mail or call (503) 239-8800.  The tobacco companies are spending BIG to defeat this measure, mamas.  If we don't step it up in the next 10 days, well, I don't want to think about it.  Don't forget to check out our earlier post on this Measure and the importance of voting early.

2. Help Stop Global Warming in St. John's! Sierra Club's Scare Away Global Warming - trade CFLs for treats!  RSVP by e-mail or call (503) 243-6656 x 302.

Know of any other do-good trick-or-treating activities for kids around town?  In other neighborhoods?  Do tell.  And eat some candy while you're at it, wouldya???

Comments

[Astrid]

I have to say as someone who drowns her self in 'adoption' as an adoption professional I was unaware of the stance of UNICEF until this discussion at uM. In reading the UNICEF statement I was torn…my job as a professional is to help educate, support and honor the adoption community (which includes adoptees, birth families, adoptive families…). A large aspect of 'honoring' an adoption is not only acknowledging where an adoptee is from but being willing to engage and ask these really tough questions. Most children go through this line of questioning, adopted or not asking themselves "why"…why me?...why am I in this world…who am I?...For those of us who are adopted these questions lead to others…where is my birth family?…are they ok?…why couldn't they keep me?...how can I help them?...why couldn't my adoptive parents just send my birth mother $$ so she could have kept me? So, my feeling is let's keep the dialogue open! We need to be talking about this stuff to serve and HONOR everyone involved in adoption.

[Lisa]

Sarah, Thanks for your comment on Unicef. One of the goals of Activistas is to share info among readers (and writers!) so that we can all learn from each other's experiences. So thanks to you for broadening this conversation, that's what makes uM such an excellent resource, I think.

I wish we could be all knowing, but alas, it's just not possible (even if we did have all the time in the world). Int'l adoption is something I do know a little about (a very close friend founded Adoption Mosaic and we discuss related issues frequently: http://www.adoptionmosaic.org/), but I am happy to learn more on this topic, about which I suspect there are a variety of different opinions from a variety of different perspectives/experiences. We assume that readers have different opinions on issues, and aim to respect that. Also, I wonder if you'd be willing to share your thoughts on why Unicef has taken this position? Has it always?

Also, I followed your link to The Lancet but can't read anything w/o signing up so I did not pursue it. Anyway to include a link for readers who don't wish to register but are interested to see what is being said (like me!)?

[Sarah C]

I find it to be disturbing when people continue to present themselves as something they are not. I would imagine that most people running and reading this blog consider themselves to be progressive. But yet, they continue to encourage fundraising for an anti adoption, counterproductive and homophobic organization like UNICEF. Read here http://www.familieswithoutborders.com/ and http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673604175600/fulltext for more information.

If you want to raise money to help kids there are many organizations in this world that are helping kids. Not just pretending like UNICEF.