THE POWER OF ONE

One person, Rimas Miksys, at NorthSeattleProgressives.org, asked members to write 10 postcards a week to people in North Carolina to register to vote.  That request grew to over 100 people handwriting the message as well as addressing the postcards.

 

EUUC members Gary McCaig and Christine MacDonald writing postcards

 

One person, Gary McCaig, asked people at the EUUC’s Coffee and Politics group if anyone else wanted also to handwrite postcards.  He also asked the Peace and Justice group for volunteers.  From a start of a few, the word spread to other members of our Congregation.  Although this effort was not an officially endorsed project, it soon grew to dozens of our members who wanted to make a difference – to transform their feelings into action.

 

One person, Abigail Modjeska, reached out to people who lived in her condominium complex.  She soon had 25 people writing over 800 postcards a week.

 

One person, Mary Ann Kirkpatrick, reached out to the people who have been demonstrating daily at Westgate.  Soon she had over a dozen people writing hundreds of postcards every week.

 

One person, Ross Henderson, asked if he could have over two dozen packets of postcards a week for his friends, family and acquaintances.

 

One person, my twelve-year-old granddaughter, asked if she could help.  She enlisted her family and they were soon writing 20 to 40 postcards a week.

 

The backbone of this effort has been members of our congregation each acting individually.  When we included our families, friends, and acquaintances, we were generating over 1500 hand-written postcards a week.   This amounted, over time, to several thousand that were sent to North Carolina, South Caroline, Florida, Texas, and more recently to Georgia.

 

The most common reason for participating was that people just needed to contribute something.  That sentiment in our Congregation is a large reason why I asked to join.

 

There has been an unintended consequence to my participation in this effort.  I have gotten to know many people in our Congregation much better.  With great joy, I have moved many people from acquaintances or fellow members to being friends.  MY life has been enriched in so many ways by joining this Congregation.

By Gary McCaig