Excerpt from Jack Allen Memorial
SHARING OUR ABUNDANCE OFFERINGS - Jack AllenSharing Our Abundance offerings for May honors a long time member of UCE, Jack Allen. Many of us remember Jack fondly as he made everyone feel so welcome at UCE. As well, when Jack died, he left a $10,000 life insurance gift to UCE. We really appreciate all the contributions Jack made to UCE and to Unitarianism and therefore, we will be honoring him by donating our charitable sharing of offerings for May to World Accord.
In 1961, Jack was led to the Unitarian church by his daughter, Judy. It was such a good fit with Jack's principles of justice and equity and interdependence. Judy brought him but Social Justice kept him here. He was part of the group in this church who supported with time and money, a hostel for the multitudes of hitchhikers criss-crossing the country. In the 60s the Native Friendship Centre became a focus for him and he encouraged other members of the church to offer hospitality and tutoring at the Centre. He and other Unitarians joined the protest against nuclear testing in Southern Alberta. He long supported the gay and lesbian community, marching in protest when Anita Bryant came to town in the 70s and most recently in the Gay Pride Parade last June in his friend's power wheelchair.
After 41 years he resigned his membership in this church but immediately joined the Westwood congregation where his partner, Elaine Roberts, was an active member. He became an active member of their Social Justice Committee and supported enthusiastically their projects in Nicaragua and Peru. Together, Jack and Elaine journeyed to Central America 5 times with World Accord, an organization whose development philosophy embraces the idea that "development is not a destination, but a journey". World Accord works with people, families and communities, helping create opportunities and choices that improve their well-being in ways consistent with their culture and value. Each time he went, he joyfully assisted a campesino family to build a home or the people of a village to build a school or community center. He was very sad in 2005 when he realized that his balance was so compromised that he was unsafe on the worksite and that it would be his last trip. He was 81.
A team of Jack's family and friends are going to Honduras in January 2009 to build a school in his honour. Contributions to World Accord, to the Jack Allen Memorial Fund are still being gratefully received. Further information about this is available from Elaine Roberts or from World Accord.
World Accord www.worldaccord.org
1C-185 Frobisher Dr. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2V 2E6 1-800-525-3545
posted by World Accord Staff @ 10:31 AM
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