by WebPost | Aug 23, 2026 | Activity, Current, Race and Racism, Racial Justice Team, Redd Elementary School
Imagine being greeted with a wide smile and sense of anticipation from your student when arriving at your classroom. This has been true for me – a wonderful experience of being a volunteer mentor — spending time with and getting to know my sweet kindergartener this past year. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I look forward to participating again in the fall. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss!
If you have one or two hours a week to spare and would like a chance to make a meaningful contribution in the community, consider joining our team of volunteer mentors at Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary School. Most of the students at Redd come from low-income families, primarily Latino or African-American. Many are immigrants. All could benefit from a consistent friendly presence in their lives.
Mentors commit to weekly visits with assigned students in kindergarten through 5th grade. You can choose the day and time to volunteer and which grade level you’d prefer to work with. We often meet during the students’ lunch break. Some of us meet with more than one student at a time, or meet individually with multiple students.
Whether playing games together, making art, reading or making conversation, we are helping students to build social and emotional skills that support their academic development. And we are having fun doing it!
We plan to hold an in-person orientation for new volunteers sometime in September. If you are interested in learning more about our experiences, please contact Lynda Perry, Kathryn Newland, or any of our other volunteers: Marjorie Bertolino, Mike Cluverius, Danni Kong, Mary Beth Martin, and Janet Thoroman. We will be welcoming at least two new volunteers this fall, and we hope to welcome you also.
This volunteer mentor opportunity is truly a valuable experience. Please join us!
by WebPost | Aug 19, 2026 | Activity, AFSC, Current, Earthcare, Quaker Earthcare Witness
Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) Global Day of Action: Saturday, September 19, 8:45 to Noon
Worship made visible: head, heart, hands & voices
Join the collaboration of QEW, Sierra Club Falls of the James Group & AFSC Love as Action for a local trash cleanup (location coming!) including breakfast snacks and a short meeting for worship!
A QEW Day of Action – twice yearly in Fall and Spring – envisions Meetings creating a locally organized community event where Friends choose an action that fits its own land, gifts, needs, and community and gather in love, listen to the Spirit, care for the land and one another, and let our worship be visible.
Why do humble actions as a community? This Day of Action is a way for Friends to:
- Bring communities together through shared labor, laughter, sweat, and love.
- Make Earthcare visible as a living Quaker witness.
- Invite neighbors, youth, families, and seekers into meaningful action.
- Deepen the spiritual connection between worship and ecological repair.
- Connect spiritually across time zones and share our stories around the world.
More information is forthcoming from Barb Adams and Diane Bowden.
Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is a network of Friends (Quakers) in North America working on Earthcare concerns. We work to inspire Spirit-led action toward ecological sustainability and environmental justice and a spiritual transformation in our relationships with each other and the natural world. As all our communities are being impacted more and more by the climate crisis, we feel an urgent leading to share our witness.
by WebPost | Aug 18, 2026 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Bible Study, Reading between the Lines
The Adult Spiritual Education committee will host a one-hour Reading Between the Lines (Bible Workbench) on First Day, September 6, from 9-10 am, through Zoom. We’ll discuss both Romans 12: 19-21 (“When you are wronged, do not seek revenge. Instead, leave room for the judgement of God…”) and Matthew 18, 15-20: What is a respectful way to handle conflict between two people in a community? How do we resist the temptation of making false assumptions? The facilitator will send the zoom link through the Newslist several days before our meeting.
by WebPost | Aug 17, 2026 | Activity, Current, Peace and Social Concerns, Richmond Peace Education Center
Ready for some Peace Raising? Ready to wage some peace?
Ready to focus on Nurturing Our Community: Body Mind and Spirit?
Or would you like to just picnic in the park with a few hundred like-minded folk?
Come to PeaceFest, Sunday, September 20 between 1 and 5 at the Byrd Park Roundhouse.
Richmond Friends Peace and Social Concerns is inviting all F/friends to participate!
Set up, table, make art, dance, sing, tell about how Peace Is Lived and Love Is Action. Committees, especially Religious Education and Race and Racism are invited to participate.
For close to 50 years, Richmond Peace Education Center (RPEC) has brought Richmond nonprofits and artists together in a positive, supportive, educational festival to promote peace and cooperation. For 15 years (with a hiatus for the pandemonium) RPEC has hosted, with the support of our Meeting and other groups, a Peace Festival to celebrate the International Day of Peace.
This event is VERY family friendly! … and it will be bigger this year, with a compelling theme and truly diverse presentations bolstering “Nurturing Our Community: Body Mind and Spirit. ”
Our Meeting will have a table/booth, and we need a few folks to help set up, staff, and break it down that day. Even a couple hours would be very helpful.
Our rep to RPEC, Patricia Stansbury, can provide more information and help you find your niche in this celebration.
by WebPost | Aug 17, 2026 | Activity, Clearing, Current, Ministry and Worship, Retreat
Imagine spending a few quiet hours in a beautiful setting with Friends. Ministry and Worship is hosting a half-day silent retreat at The Clearing on Saturday, September 26 from 9:30 to 1:30. This is an opportunity for the community to experience and experiment with extended silence for more than an hour!
We will have a loose agenda for the day, mainly focused on quiet personal contemplation:
- Arrive in silence (The lodge will be open by 9:00 am)
- Brief opening circle (9:30 am)
- Group silent contemplation
- Silent nature walk
- Open time for journaling, contemplative reading, prayer, art, etc.
- Silent shared meal
- End with worship sharing
Plan to bring your lunch, and supplies for contemplative practices like journaling. Please reach out to Mason Mairead for any questions.