HFFC Forum

On June 16, 2020 – just before Abby Hafer's talk – HFFC president Cary Shaw conducted our 2020 Annual Meeting. The most pressing order of business was the election of officers, Steering Committee members and committee leads; the entire slate (which was distributed in advance) was approved in a blanket vote. Cary also used the meeting to share what HFFC expenses are – how our membership dues are used. The other HFFC officers and committee chairs then shared their objectives, key accomplishments in the 2019-2020 year and some upcoming plans. HFFC had an active and successful year! Here are two files with more infomation: The HFFC Annual Meeting minutes, when you can see details about these areas of interest: Programming and Events, Communications, Social Action, Outreach (including swag), and the “Books, etc.” and Science Readers discussion groups. The HFFC 2020 election results.

Hospital workers are real heroes in this time of pandemic. Their tireless efforts are providing comfort and treatment to many patients, and they are saving many lives. HFFC wants to let our healthcare workers know that humanists care about them. We are expressing our appreciation in several ways. Our first appreciation gift was to two shifts of ICU workers at NORWALK HOSPITAL. For the morning HFFC sent bagels from Liz Sue Bagels; for the afternoon, we sent cheesecakes from Silver Star Diner. HFFC took $200 out of our modest treasury to pay for this. This donation helped both the hospital and two of our local businesses, which are also hurting. With additional donations we can send tokens of our appreciation to the other large hospitals in FAIRFIELD COUNTY, including Stamford, Danbury, Greenwich and Bridgeport. And with enough donations we could even say "thank you" to Norwalk a second time. We will ask each hospital what they would most appreciate — outside of the P.P.E., which we do not have. At this point, it may or may not be food. In some hospitals ICU staff are now fasting during their shift to avoid contaminating their masks, so they may appreciate either having food or drink at the end of their shift -- or maybe something else all together.  We will ask. To fund these expressions of appreciation, we are asking HFFC members and friends to donate — if you can. Please go to this HFFC donation page .

There are over 21 million refugees, people who have fled their countries due to war, persecution or a natural disaster. The numbers and the need can feel overwhelming. But we can make a difference – one life, one family at a time. HFFC supports a volunteer group, Stamford. Stamford Interfaith Refugee Settlement (SIRS), which works with Integrated Refugee Services (IRIS, irisct.org) as a co-sponsor to settle refugee families in Stamford and to help them become self-sufficient. SIRS is responsible for many tasks including Finding and settling up housing Securing good healthcare Finding employment Enrolling adults in English classes (ESL/ESOL) and children in school and providing homework help Amy Ewing, a HFFC Steering Committee member, volunteered to be HFFC's member in this interfaith group and has been very involved since early in 2016. In 2018 Amy became SIRS co-lead with Jean Meyer. SIRS has worked with two families to-date: a Syrian family of six, starting in April 2016, and an Afghani family of three, starting in January 2019 and continuing in 2020. SIRS's current client had helped the US-led security task force in Afghanistan, so came to the US on a Special Immigrant Visa. He and his family are doing well, but employment continues to be a challenge. Since he cannot find work in his field, finance, he has accepted part-time jobs – one of which he lost due to COVID-19. He continues to contribute to rent, but SIRS needs to pay the balance. The group also hopes to find a donated car, so he can get to better-paying jobs that are not available by bike or public transportation. HFFC's Social Action Committee decided to contribute to SIRS. In December and January HFFC members donated a total of $510 to SIRS: $110 from donations collected through tee shirt sales through December; $100 in matching funds from our limited HFFC treasury; and $300 from individual HFFC members. Refugees coming to the US are our newest Americans and are our oldest tradition. If you can donate to SIRS, please go to the HFFC Donation page , and select “Stamford Interfaith Refugee Settlement (SIRS)” as your donation preference. Thanks for helping HFFC help others.