“Close It! Clean It! Don’t Repeat It!”

Peace people from KC & around the country will gather Aug. 13-16
for the KC Nuclear Weapons Plant Conference

“Close It! Clean It! Don’t Repeat It!”

What’s that all about?

Well, the city of Kansas City, Missouri has sold $687 million dollars
of municipal bonds, backed by the feds, and groundbreaking has begun
for a new mind-boggling $4.8 billion dollar KC Plant, the first new
U.S. nuclear weapons plant to be built in over 30 years! It is a
complex public-private scheme that uses "urban blight" funds to
develop a soy bean field on the southern border of the city.

The current KC Plant is the primary producer of non-fissile nuclear
bomb parts - mechanical, electronic- and engineered materials.
KC makes the Bomb work! The Plant is contaminated 50 feet
underground with hundreds of hazardous chemicals and radioactive
materials, as well as the underlying water aquifer and rivers that run
nearby. Hundreds of workers have cancers and other serious illnesses,
and many have already died.

The new plant, to be built north of the former Richards Gebaur base,
is the first of three new U.S. nuclear weapons plants. The other two
are proposed for New Mexico (plutonium pits) and Tennessee (uranium
secondaries). This would expand our nuclear bomb production
capability and increase spending for nuclear weapons to the tune of
$80 billion dollars over the next 10 years!

June 16-19 KC peace & resistance conference

Dear Friends of Cherith Brook,

Please consider attending a peace & resistance conference in KC.

On June 16-19, come to Juneteenth Celebration: Abolition of Slavery! Abolition of Nukes!–sponsored by PeaceWorks, Physicians for Social Responsibility-KC, and East Meets West of Troost. The conference aims to raise consciousness about the Kansas City Plant, which makes parts for nuclear weapons, and to witness for peace. Here’s a description of the conference events, all free and open to the public.

On June 16, 5-9 p.m., take nonviolence training after potluck at St. Mark Union Church, 11th & Euclid.

On June 17, at noon, hear “If You Love This Planet—Medical Consequences of Nuclear Weapons Production/Nuclear Energy Production,” a talk by Helen Caldicott, M.D., Australian pediatrician and author, at KU Medical Center (room TBA) at 39th and Rainbow. Stay for lunch.

On June 17, 3-6 pm, join “Grassroots Nuclear Abolition”—workshops & potluck at St. Mark Union Church. The one-hour workshops will be intense, covering these topics: workers’ illnesses from work at the Kansas City Plant; going from nuke-maker/military to urban farmer; weapons economy vs. a wiser, greener planet; dialogue for nuclear disarmament; environmental consequences of nuclear war; overview of the entire nuclear weapons complex; KC’s nuclear bomb plant; and nonviolent resistance.

On June 17, 7-10 pm, attend “Grassroots Nuclear Abolition: Solutions for Health, the Environment & Economic Justice”—speakers and concert at All Souls UU Church, 4501 Walnut. Speakers include Caldicott, author of If You Love This Planet and Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer; Bill Wickersham, coauthor of Confronting Nuclear War: The Role of Education, Religion and the Community; Steven Starr, PSR senior scientist, expert in environmental consequences of nuclear war; Jay Coghlan, head of NukeWatch New Mexico; Sasteh Mosley, head of East Meets West of Troost, employing at-risk youth.

On June 18, witness for peace through civil resistance to the KC Plant.

On June 19, come to 18th & Highland for Juneteenth activities re urban farming, recycling, green jobs.

For more info, contact Jane Stoever at 913-206-4088 or janepstoever@yahoo.com, or see kcnukeswatch.wordpress.com. Thanks to all of you friends of Cherith Brook for your mighty witness for hospitality and joyful peace!

Please join us for the following May & June opportunities to connect!

Women's Day May 26 from 11:30am to 2pm
We need women volunteers who are able to
cut & color hair, give massages, pedicures & manicures, foot baths,
apply makeup, engage in conversation over lunch, etc.

2nd Saturday Work Day June 12 from 9am to 1pm
Plan to get your hands dirty with us completing some of the following projects:
insulation/weatherization,
fencing, planting, tending the garden,
small electrical projects,
framing and drywall,
sorting clothes,
some painting, etc.

2nd Saturday Haircuts June 12 from 9am to 11am
Can you cut men's and women's hair? Then we need you!

Please let us know if you are available for any of these dates. Thank you!

Please join us for the following April & May opportunities to connect!

Women's Day April 28 from 11:30am to 2pm
We need women volunteers who are able to
cut & color hair, give massages, pedicures & manicures, foot baths,
apply makeup, engage in conversation over lunch, etc.

Clarification Meeting May 7th at 7pm
Dr. Rodney Reeves, professor of Biblical Studies
at Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Missouri
presents "Worship as Warfare".

2nd Saturday Work Day May 8 from 9am to 1pm
Plan to get your hands dirty with us completing some of the following projects:
insulation/weatherization,
fencing, planting, tending the garden,
small electrical projects,
framing and drywall,
sorting clothes,
some painting, etc.

2nd Saturday Haircuts May 8 from 9am to 11am
Can you cut men's and women's hair? Then we need you!

Please let us know if you are available for any of these dates. Thank you!

URGENT needs list - Winter 2009

Coats
Hats
Gloves
Long Underwear
Blankets

Laundry Soap - he (high efficiency)
Dish Soap
Razors
Mens underwear - small sizes
Womens underwear - small sizes

Fri Nov 6 @ 7pm: Rethinking Christmas Clarification

For our November 6 meeting, we will be Rethinking Christmas! Prior to our gathering, we hope you'll review Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2 so that these stories will be fresh on your minds. We will discuss Advent, the Christmas story, our values, the way of Culture and the way of Christ. We want to discover ways we as individuals and as communities can more deeply engage the way of Christ this year.

This Clarification Meeting is kid-friendly! As adults review Christmas ideas of how to simplify giving and spreading holiday cheer, children will be working on some handmade crafts that they might enjoy giving as gifts this year. So please, bring your family and friends to this fun-filled evening!

Dec 4 & 5: Nonviolent Communication Mtg & Training

Please attend Clarification Meetings at Cherith Brook on the first Friday of each month, from 7 to 8:30pm, at our storefront next door to the house. Enjoy coffee, conversation, fellowship and deep thinking; a chance to get clear on important issues.

For our December 4th/5th Clarification Meeting and Training we will be discussing the topic of Nonviolent Communication, and learning how to put the idea into practice. We hope that many of our volunteers, and others in the community, will be interested in participating in this two-part event, although we invite you to attend either one or both.

The Clarification Meeting will be held on Friday night, December 4th from 7 to 8:30pm. A training session will be held on Saturday morning, December 5th from 8:30am to Noon, led by Jeff Matascik, a violence prevention specialist for Synergy Services. In preparation, we hope you'll read Marshall B. Rosenberg's book, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life.

We encourage you to come prepared with references, your questions, and personal stories on any of the topics of discussion during our Clarification Meetings. We hope to deepen our understanding of each issue, based on Biblical teachings as well as facts presented by those in attendance at each gathering.

Cherith Brook Community
3308 E 12th St
Kansas City, MO 64127
816-241-8047
cherithbrookkcmo@yahoo.com
cherithbrookkc.blogspot.com

Clarification Meeting topic for November 6th: Counter-Cultural Holiday Celebrations