Eighth
Annual 40 Hour Fast Events Across New York State
March
12-14, 2003
Albany
Wednesday,
March 12
11 AM— Statewide Opening News Conference. First Lutheran
Church, 181 Western Avenue in Albany (between Lake Ave. and Quail St, with parking
off State). Labor-Religion Coalition leaders, including Thomas Y. Hobart Jr.,
President of New York State United Teachers, Roman Catholic Bishop Howard J. Hubbard,
Rabbi Jonathan Roos and Lutheran Bishop David Preisinger, will address the theme,
"Replacing Greed with Justice. " Downstairs from the church, a homeless
shelter has been providing lifesaving refuge for some of Albany's homeless persons.
Shelter director Leslie Phelan will also speak. All are welcome
5-6
PM—Candlelight procession to the Capitol.. Meet at the Cathedral of
All Saints, Swan and Elk Streets in Albany. Proceed to the top of the East Capitol
steps where faith leaders and workers will post "95 Theses" on the door
in protest against state policies that sustain a profoundly immoral income and
wealth gap.
Thursday, March 13
Any time between
5:30 AM and midnight—Walk with Striking Workers. Gather to support
caregivers at Guilderland Center, Rosewood Gardens and Hilltop Nursing Homes in
their Unfair Labor Practice Strike with our partner, Capital Region Division,
1199 SEIU, the Service Employees International Union. Fasters—please ask
for the Labor-Religion sign to show our organizational support. Directions
to Rosewood Gardens, Rensselaer: I-90 E to Exit 9. Take a left off the exit. Nursing
home is on the right. Directions to Guilderland Center: Take Rt. 20 W to Rt. 146.
Take a left on to Rt. 146. Nursing home is a few miles on the left.
Friday,
March 14
12:30 PM—Breaking the Fast Service. Join others who
support the fast by sharing a light meal at 12:30 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul
Roman Catholic Church, 900 Madison Avenue in Albany. Government, business and
faith leaders attending the Regional Forum on Future Development in the Capital
District, a "smart growth" meeting convened by ARISE will be invited.
For information about Albany events, call Bill Peltz at 518/
436-0442. Click here for a flyer to print and share.
Binghamton
Wednesday,
March 12
8 PM— Opening Interfaith Service. First Presbyterian
Church, 42 Chenango St. in downtown Binghamton.
Friday,
March 14
NOON— Closing of the Fast. First Congregational Church,
corner of Main and Front Sts., Binghamton.
For more information
call Tim Taugher, 607/ 729-9166.
Brockport
Wednesday,
March 12
6 PM— Pre-fast potluck dinner followed at 7 with
an Opening Service. United Methodist Church, 92 Main Street, Brockport.
Friday,
March 14
NOON— Closing of the Fast with a soup and bread luncheon
and closing prayers. Newman Catholic Center, 101 Kenyon St., Brockport.
For
more information call Barbara Deming at 585/ 637-7504.
Buffalo
Thursday,
March 13
4:30-6 PM—Candle Light Prayer Vigil for Wal-Mart Workers.
Gather with clergy and supporters outside the parking area of the Wal-Mart at
5033 Transit Road, Williamsville. Prayer, song, testimony taking place as part
of the Annual 40-hour Fast. Coalition for Economic Justice and UFCW Local 1.
For more information call Maria Whyte or Emily Ng at 716/ 892-5877.
Ithaca
Wednesday,
March 12
11 AM-6 PM—Leafleting for the Fast & the Living
Wage Hotel Pledge. Main Pavilion at The Commons in Ithaca. Join the Religious
Task Force of the Tompkins County Living Wage Coalition as they seek supporters
for the fast and the principle that people who work for a living should be able
to live on what they earn from their work. The Living Wage Coalition is targeting
the hotel industry first, seeing it as holding the potential to be a model for
all other employers who pay low wages. The Tompkins County Living Wage Coalition
is a network of 36 faith-based, community, labor, student and other organizations.
For more information call Edie Reagan, Coordinator of Justice
and Peace Ministry at Catholic Charities, 607/272-5062.
Long
Island
Friday, March 14
NOON-1 PM—Prayer
Service: Hunger for Justice— Breaking the Fast. Pray to protest NYS budget
cuts that will fall most heavily on the elderly, children, sick people and poor
people. Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Church, 1434 Straight Path, Wyandanch. [Directions:
Southern State Parkway to Straight Path North. The church is 2 miles north on
the left. LIE or Northern State to Deer Park Ave. South (Rte. 231). About 1 mile
south of the LIE. Bear right on to Straight Path. The church is 5 miles south
on the right.] Contact Ryland Gaines at 631/ 435-1658 for more information.
Middletown
Thursday,
March 13
7:15 PM—Performance and Discussion of Borderland Crossings:
The Beginnings of a Farmworker's Journey, written and performed by Miguel
Angel Pimental as part of the Labor-Religion Coalition's Annual 40-hour Fast.
Sponsors include Rural and Migrant Ministry, an interfaith ministry whose mission
is to educate and work alongside disenfranchised rural residents and agricultural
workers, the Centro Independiente Trabajadores Agticolas, (CITA, the Independent
Farmworker Center), an organization of poor, immigrant farmworkers located in
Florida, NY, the Mid-Hudson Coalition for Economic Justice and the Farmworker
Advocacy Coalition. All are welcome to join church members at 6:30 for an Episcopal
Eucharist. Grace Episcopal Church, 58 North Street, Downtown Middletown (across
from the library). For more information, call RMM at 845/ 485-8627.
New
York City
Thursday, March 13
NOON—Interfaith
Vigil to Support Low-waged Home Healthcare Workers. At the offices of the
Allen Healthcare Corporation, 175-20 Hillside Avenue, Jamaica, Queens. Shuttle
bus from Manhattan departing at 11 AM from 75 Varick St (at Canal). Cosponsored
with District Council 1707, AFSCME. Bus departs Queens at 1 PM for 75 Varick St
and to City Hall for a 2 PM news conference for beleaguered Public Day Care Workers
fighting for a contract for more than two years.
Allen Home
Health Care Corp, the parent company of Health Acquisition Corp., doing business
as Allen Home Health Care Services, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and
in 2002 made $82 million, a record amount. The starting wage for home health aides
is $5.75 per hour. The company has been in negotiations with District Council
1707, AFSCME for two years.
Friday, March 14
NOON—Closing
Interfaith Service and Breaking of the Fast. Join us for readings, liturgy,
song, food and inspiration! St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 521 West 126th St. (between
Broadway and Amsterdam) in Harlem.
For more information
call Rabbi Michael Feinberg at 212/ 406-2156 ext. 4637 or e-mail: labrelig@aol.com
Olean
Wednesday,
March 12
6 PM—Kickoff Ceremony for the 40-hour Fast and the
first public witness of the Allegany-Olean Labor-Religion Coalition. The Warming
House, West State Street in Olean. All are invited to share a meal at this student-run
soup kitchen. Prayer and speakers. Please come willing to say a few words to the
camera for a short video for distribution to labor and religious groups. For more
information, call Doug Looney at the Franciscan Center for Social Concern at St.
Bonaventure University. 716/ 375-4019.
Friday, March 14
NOON—Breaking of the Fast. Meet outside the Warming House to end our
period of fasting.
Rochester
Wednesday,
March 12
6 PM—Opening meal and ceremony. Maria Tellez, the
Coordinator of Farmworker Women's Institute will speak. Lake Avenue Baptist Church,
70 Ambrose St., Rochester. Please RSVP for the opening and closing: 585/ 262-7021
or 585/ 262-7167. Also, please support those of us who are fasting with a donation.
Donations will be used to work for economic justice for workers in Monroe County
and for our anti-sweatshop educational campaign.
Friday,
March 14
NOON—Closing meal and ceremony. SEIU 200United, 225
West Broad St., Suite B. Please RSVP for the opening and closing: 585/ 262-7021
or 585/ 262-7167. Also, please support those of us who are fasting with a donation.
Donations will be used to work for economic justice for workers in Monroe County
and for our anti-sweatshop educational campaign.
For more
information call Rachel McGuire at 585/ 262-7067 or send e-mail to Labor_Religion@cfcrochester.org.
Syracuse
Wednesday,
March 12
6:30 PM—Potluck supper followed by 7:30 Interfaith Service
of Solidarity with Central New York's Working Poor. The FAST begins at 8 PM.
Plymouth Congregational Church, 232 E. Onondaga St. Syracuse.
Friday,
March 14
NOON—Celebrate the Breaking of the Fast. Closing ceremony
and light meal. United Auto Workers, Local 624, Union Hall, 714 W. Manlius St.
E. Syracuse. 585/ 463-4591.
2 PM—Leafletting at Wal-Mart,
East Syracuse on Bridge Street. . As part of the Fast to support retail workers,
all are invited to join us as we offer leaflets to customers and put pro-worker
cards into clothing and appliances. Those attending the closing ceremony will
go directly to leaflet.
For more information call Diane Swords:
315/ 431-4040, ext. 42
Utica
Wednesday, March 12
6 PM—Fast Program Spotlighting the Income
and Wealth Gap Among NY State Residents. United Food and Commercial Workers,
District Union Local One, 106 Memorial Parkway, Utica. Opening prayer and meditation
followed by a light dinner. Please call 315/ 735-6101 with your reservation. Topics
from 7-8 PM:
•Education funding and its role in income and wealth disparity
•Job layoffs and the new terrain
•UNITE Local 653T: Why do we strike
today?
•Minimum wage: No benefits and its impact on self-sufficiency
•Consumers
with a conscience: How the purchase of goods impacts workers at home and around
the world
Friday, March 14
11:30—Prayer,
meditation, a light luncheon and inspirational reading. UFCW, District Union
Local One, 106 Memorial Parkway, Utica. Call 315/ 735-6101 with your reservation.
For more information call Debra Hagenbuch, 315/ 735-6101.
Please contact us about additional events: info@labor-religion.org
