What is fair trade coffee?
You may have heard the phrase "fair trade coffee," but do you know what it means? To many farmers, it means hope for a better life for their families and their communities. It means pride, independence, and empowerment for people who have not always received just treatment in the global economy. It means our neighbors in the some of the world's poorest countries can receive fair wages for their labor.

Why support fair trade?
Much of the coffee we drink comes from farmers in developing nations who depend upon this crop for their survival. Circumstances often force them to sell their beans for a small fraction of the coffee's value on the world market. Fair trade efforts help these farmers become more self-sufficient by setting pricing standards, eliminating middlemen, and improving working conditions.

What is St. James doing?
On the recommendation of the Social Concerns Committee, our Pastoral Council has decided to switch to fairly traded coffee for parish functions. We have already received our first order through Equal Exchange's Interfaith Program. Next time you stop by Sunday morning coffee hour or attend a Community Life Committee event, look for the Equal Exchange poster or the bright yellow bag by the coffee pot. These will remind you of our parish commitment to solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have not been blessed with the abundance we enjoy in Rocky Hill.

What can you do?
  · Look for the "fair trade seal" next time you buy coffee.
  · Ask your favorite coffee shop if the coffee you're drinking is fair trade.
  · Learn more about fair trade by asking to see the Equal Exchange pamphlet next time you stop by coffee hour.
  · Visit the Interfaith Program website at www.equalexchange.com/interfaith.
  · Watch the weekly bulletin for fair trade updates and opportunities to purchase coffee, tea, and hot chocolate from Equal Exchange.

SOCIAL CONCERNS NEWSLETTER
SPRING, 2004

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SOCIAL CONCERNS NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER, 2003

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me…whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 26:35-36, 40)

Did you know?

Because of the economy, there has been a significant increase in the number of people who are homeless or who lack the necessary clothing to survive a New England winter. More and more adults are unable to find employment and often entire families, including children, find themselves on the streets or in shelters.

Advent Giving
What Does St. James Parish Do?

During Advent of every year, parishioners generously donate warm clothing items, toys, toiletries, and bedding for distribution to various shelters. Contributions have been made to:

Immaculate Conception Shelter (men's shelter in Hartford)

Rocky Hill Human Resources (single mothers needing help)

Interval House (shelter in Hartford for battered women/children)

Tabor House II (housing for women who are HIV+ or have AIDS)

St. Ann-Immaculate Conception (inner-city parish in Hartford)

St. Peter's (inner city parish in Hartford)

St. Elizabeth House (Hartford shelter for men, women and children)

HOME (Hartford House of Bread educational program for teenage mothers

What Can You Do?

Once again, we are asking for donations during Advent. Paper ornaments with the name of a suggested gift are on the trees in the lobbies. Please take an ornament from one of the trees and bring back a gift, which may be placed in the boxes next to the trees. The suggested gifts include toiletries, clothing (socks, hats, mittens, gloves, etc.) and toys for children. Please share with those who are less fortunate. Gifts will again be distributed to various shelters and organizations that care for the needy. Thank you for caring. Thank you for sharing.

Think about it. We always say that it is better to give than to receive. By caring and sharing, we both give and receive.

What else can you do?

Get involved - why are the amount of housing subsidies down? What can we do to change the system - political and economic - so that homelessness need not exist? When votes that affect housing, food stamps, or any issue that affect those with little or no economic means, call your Congressperson. You can make a difference!

Last year, a director of one of the shelters mentioned that they were in need of sleeping bags, for those people who are homeless but are unable to be in a shelter, either because of their own fears or because the shelters were full. In the past, we have never found a single sleeping bag in our clothing bank. Guess what? That week, we found several. In addition one of our CCD classes did odd jobs to earn money with which they purchased two additional sleeping bags. Isn't it always amazing how God works through us.

From the documents of Vatican II ---------

-----there is a growing awareness of the exalted dignity proper to the human person, since he stands above all things, and his rights and duties are universal and inviolable. Therefore, there must be made available to all everything necessary for leading a life truly human, such as food, clothing, and shelter------

---In our times a special obligation binds us to make ourselves the neighbor of absolutely every person and of actively helping every person who comes across our path ----------

(From the 'Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World')