UU FaithAction NJ’s (UUFANJ) UU Justice Gala 2021 will be our fun annual fundraiser. We started out expecting to hold a gala dinner in Princeton, expanding on the first gala held in Summit. With the pandemic, we have shifted to a virtual event that will be presented via Zoom on Friday, March 5, from 7:00 – 8:30pm. Racial Justice has been chosen as the theme to highlight the overarching goal of the dismantling racism work across all our Task Forces.

The gala is a great chance to celebrate what we have accomplished through Faith Action and where we are going. You will be hearing about the work of UUFANJ from Task Force Leaders, and the new UUFANJ Youth Caucus will have a segment.

We will be honoring Rev. Craig Hirshberg and Ms. Kim Gaddy at the gala. Rev. Hirshberg is our early Executive Director who led us in establishing UUFaithActionNJ (then called the UU Legislative Ministry of New Jersey). Ms. Gaddy is a coalition partner and longstanding activist with Clean Water Action, the Department of Environmental Protection, and her hometown of Newark.

The gala will also have music, a breakout activity to get people moving, and bidding via the UUFANJ website before the event for Task Force themed gift and food baskets, delivered to the winners’ doorsteps. There will be a drawing for a door prize from among event attendees.

Money to run UUFANJ comes from congregations, from grants, and a significant portion from individuals. There will be a sliding scale registration fee for the gala – youth and friends of UUFANJ are warmly invited too! Please save the date and look for details and the registration link by the end of January at https://www.uufaithaction.org/.

Participating in the gala is a great opportunity to support UUFANJ and its important social justice work, as well as join together for an evening of fun and friendship. We look forward to seeing you at the UU Justice Gala 2021!

In faith,

Elaine Nigam and Lynne Quinto, Co-Chairs
UU Justice Gala 2021 Planning Committee