NEWS

The Community of Friends in Action invites you to our Annual Meeting and Potluck Dinner on Friday, December 4, 2015, at 6:300 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church in Leonia.
In addition to a brief business meeting including election of officers and approval of the budget for 2016 we will have lots of good food (NO NUTS PLEASE) and an important program. We will also welcome our new part-time community organizer, Sayda Tuanama, and thank our continuing part-time staff people, Angelica Martinez, social services, and Elias Garcia, volunteer organizer.
Please let Chair Carolyn Sobering or member Suzanne Broffman know what you would like to bring. You can call them directly or just send a note to us at info@communityoffriendsinaction.org. And again–NO NUTS PLEASE. One of our members is very very allergic!

Roni Coloma, Vice Chair of the Community of Friends in Action, served as Grand Marshal of the Hispanic Day Parade for 2015 in Hudson County. With him in the photo in front of the Guatemalan float is Miss Guatemala, 2015. Congratulations to both!

Elias Garcia, a long-time member and organizer for CoFiA, is an organizer for the parade and the float.

Carmita Sanchez-Fong, Assistant Chair, Interior Design Department of the Fashion Institute of Technology, recently sent a report on FIT’s service-learning experiences for students. Carmita says, “This is a new stage in our volunteering as we seek to go outside of FIT, to promote service-learning among institutions of higher education, to respond to the needs for responsible built environments for the vulnerable populations in our city.”

Last summer the project took students and faculty beyond New York to a special project in Guatemala, where they worked with a local community to build schools made of plastic bottles stuffed with debris. The project was sponsored by the Hug it Forward organization and members of the Community of Friends in Action, Inc., including CoFiA Board Member Suzanne Broffman.

The Community of Friends in Action is pleased to announce that Sayda Tuanama has joined us as a part-time community organizer beginning November 2. This position is made possible by generous donations made in response to a special appeal to our members and friends. Many thanks to all, especially to the members of the Board who each made sizeable contributions.

Sayda says this about herself: “I am an organizer of multicultural workers, and of political campaigns. I am of Peruvian nationality and have had 16 years of experience in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico with international organizations, serving my community in America to stop being invisible, to learn their labor rights, and know about health and safety at work. I am the mother of two children.”

Sayda will join Angelica Martinez, our Social Services coordinator, and Elias Garcia, who has graciously agreed to continue helping us on a volunteer basis. We are fortunate to have such experienced and dedicated people to work with us.

Welcome, Sayda!

CoFiA is so proud of Elsa Coloma, daughter of long-time member and officer Roni Coloma and Olga Coloma, who has graduated from high school and is attending Bergen Community College. She is also working at the Palisades Park Public Library, and helping out with her younger sisters, Kelly and Elizabeth, also in the photo. A busy young woman!

Congratulations, Elsa!

On November 2, President Carolyn Sobering hosted the volunteer crew who plans, prepares, and serves a nourishing hot lunch every Monday, from November to March, for workers in Palisades Park. As the weather cools, the outside jobs–landscaping, demolition, construction, general maintenance–begin to disappear and we all hope for snow! During this time work and money are scarce, and the free lunch is much appreciated.

Eighteen volunteers gathered at Carolyn’s to review last year’s program and make plans for the coming season. Norm Smith introduced our new part-time community organizer, Sayda Tuanama, who will be assisting CoFiA as we work with other organizations on changes in immigration policy locally and statewide.

At the party the group decided to postpone the beginning of the season to November 16, 2015. As the weather continues to hold it seems more people are working steadily and there are not many workers on the streets. Hooray! Our Workers Link program is receiving few requests and it is not always possible to fill them readily.

If you would like to join our crew of volunteers–to help with lunches as well as many other tasks, such as wage theft, ESL instruction, Fund Development, Outreach and Publicity, and more, just send an email to info@communityoffriendsinaction.org and let us know your interests.

Volunteers who assist with the lunch program decided at the party on November 2 to postpone the opening of the program for this year to November 16, 2015. The ongoing good weather allows workers to continue to get jobs and save up to get through the winter.

Anyone who wishes to lend at hand at the lunch program is invited to contact us at info@communityoffriendsinaction.org. Be sure to provide your contact information so we can get back to you promptly! Check out the other programs listed on this web site to see if you might want to lend a hand in other areas as well.

According to CNN on Monday morning, October 26, 2015, the comedian-turned politician Jimmy Morales was elected president of Guatemala with more than 69% of the votes. Former first lady Sandra Torres conceded with 31% of the votes.

Morales responded to critics who doubted his ability to lead the country: “I have been asked if we have the capacity to govern, and we have been emphatic in saying that alone–no–but with the blessing of God, and the support of the people, we are sure that yes, we can. Because Guatemala has made a choice that it wants a change.

The president, vice president, and more than a dozen Cabinet members, ministers and government officials were forced to resign in the wake of a corruption scandal that brought thousands of people into the streets in protest.

We in the U.S. who are concerned about conditions of people in Guatemala, including those conditions that force people to take the difficult and risky journey to the U.S. to try to find safety and a better life, need to constantly educate ourselves about our government’s role in creating those conditions, and supporting the corrupt leaders who are being forced out. The U.S. collusion with Mexico to stop frightened people from crossing the Mexican border as they try to get to the U.S. is outrageous and must be ended. We need to stop building walls and throwing away money on Border Patrols and work with the new leadership of Guatemala to ensure that the citizens can live in their homeland with dignity and safety.

One of the services CoFiA provides is a Workers Link referral program, connecting workers with local homeowners and small businesses. People needing assistance for various tasks send an email to our web site, or call the CoFiA number, and let us know the details of the work. If Angelica, our coordinator, knows someone who is not working and has those skills she will make the connection. Follow up and setting of rates is up to the worker and the employer.

The program works best if the employer gives us plenty of time (several days, or a week) to find the best person for the job, and if the employer is willing to provide adequate compensation. Most workers do not have their own transportation so it may be necessary for the employer to pick them up and return them to an agreed upon spot. Most employers provide coffee and lunch, as well.

Recently one of our members who is employed full-time was able to accept an additional masonry job after hours. The Leonia homeowner reported being very happy with the work, and the worker was glad to have the extra income because he has a child in college this year.

The free lunch season is almost here! The lunch program begins on Monday, November 9, 2015, at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church on Broad Avenue at Homestead Street in Palisades Park. On Monday, November 2, volunteers are invited to a special luncheon at President Carolyn Sobering’s home in Leonia at 12 noon to learn what’s happened over the summer and hear about plans for this year. Please RSVP to Carolyn to let her know you will be coming, or just send an email to info@communityoffriendsinaction.org.

See you there!