Trinity United Methodist Church’s 2nd Annual America’s Sunday Supper and Peace Through Pie Social brought together many neighbors and community partners, sharing conversation and “Peace Pie” together. Sweet and savory pies were enjoyed as the facilitators were introduced for the roundtable conversation. This year’s topic focused on the hopes, obstacles, and opportunities facing families starting a new life in our community and challenges our country faces by not fully addressing the issue of immigration. Three short videos sparked the conversation: Founder Meg Erskine showcased the work of Austin’s Multicultural Refugee Coalition with the film “This Austin Life”; “Illegal” highlighted the perils of high school and college students pursuing their academic dreams as undocumented residents; and Elaine Cohen of Texans United for Families showed a clip from the feature film, “Punishment and Profits”, highlighting the controversy of the profitable economy surrounding immigration detention centers. Links to these films can be found at www.trinitychurchofaustin.org/SundaySupper.
Pastor Sid Hall invited State Rep.Elliott Naishtat to give closing remarks before the conversation was opened to everyone at the table.
The event was sponsored by Trinity United Methodist Church in partnership with Peace Through Pie, Amigos de las Américas – Austin Chapter, Texans United For Families, Multicultural Refugee Coalition, Southwest Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action, and the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association.
Martin Luther King Day Of Service was a rewarding Monday spent doing a host of light construction, painting, and gardening projects at Posada Esperanza, a full service transitional housing program for immigrant mothers and children run by Casa Marianella (www.casamarianella.org/posada-esperanza). Very special thanks to TUMC’s Youth Director, Matt Moon, for his leadership in making the day a success. With his advance planning and purchase of just the right materials, the gathering of over 20 individuals from TUMC, Honda Campus All-Star Challenge/Huston-Tillotson University, Amigos de las Américas, and Food is Free (http://foodisfreeproject.org/), put a bright, fresh coat of paint on the living area of one home, rebuilt fences, tidied up yards, installed two drought resistant “wicking” garden beds, installed new curtains, built new screens, and smoothed out pathways, all with the helpful enthusiasm of the small children who lived at Posada.
Very special thanks to TUMC’s Pastor Sid Hall, Administrator Amy Duncan, and Youth Director Matt Moon, and all who participated in these weekend events, for their collective inspiration and generous spirit – bringing us together as a community to make a positive difference in the lives of those needing a little extra support.
We can all look forward to next year’s MLK weekend events and future opportunities to create positive social change…working together.