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Hello Members and Friends!

Welcome to our November 2021 update.

Time to Adopt-A-Family

For the third year, SHoWLE is participating in the Holiday Adopt-A-Family program through Lucas County Children's Services. This year we have two small children, one 3 years old and one 18 months old and they have a caregiver that we would like to get a gift or two for as well. For those who want to help but don't want to buy something you can donate cash to SHoWLE and we will use it to buy gifts and other needed items for the family. Just send us a check or money order or you can use our donate page on the website - just note that the donation is for the adopt-a-family.

This is the kind of activity we would like to do year round as we get more members and some want to seriously commit to helping the community year round. While doing this during a religious holiday time is not ideal, this is manageable enough for our small group to complete. During the pandemic last holiday season we were able to gift the family we had with quite an assortment of needed items.

We hope you can help out. Any questions, please email Bev at bevzilla@yahoo.com

(click on image to see full size)

T-Shirt Sale

We've partnered with Bonfire to sell official SHoWLE T-shirts just like the ones we ordered back in 2019. This time you order it online and Bonfire fills the order and ships it direct to you. All funds except for processing will go to SHoWLE. They make the perfect gift. Help us out if you can

Board Election Results

Doug Berger was re-elected to the Board for another two-year term. Thanks to all who voted and those who attended the online members meeting. The financial information and minutes from the meeting is available on the website under the Board page.

We still have four seats available for those who wish to serve on the Board. The only requirements is to be a voting member (paid dues) and the time to attend bi-monthly board meetings and at least one scheduled SHoWLE meeting or event a month. If you are interested send us an email or use our website contact form.

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We will continue to share accurate information as often as we can on social media channels and if members and friends need assistance (like you've lost a job or have to deal with family members being ill) check out our Community Outreach Resources and Education page.

https://is.gd/showlehelp

Here is some information for those who live in Lucas county and a links to some statewide resources available

COVID-19 in Ohio: Resources & Ways to Help

State of Ohio COVID-19 Information Page

The Lucas County COVID-19 Emotional Support Line
419-442-0580

Ohio Heroes 419-841-6781 – offers free counseling and support to front-line medical professionals

Donation Opportunity

One of the things that we would like to do is transition our membership database into our group website. This would allow us to create a member portal you could use to renew your membership, get reminders by email, be invited to members only meetings and events, and be able to update your contact information when you need to it.

One of the tools we would like to use is Paid Membership Pro. It is a plugin to use with our group website WordPress install. We setup and tested the free version but the items we really need aren't available unless you pay for the "Pro" version. For example, the free version only allows Stripe to be used as a payment gateway and we would like to be able to use PayPal etc.... The free version doesn't allow the admin to add members to the database manually. The Pro version also allows more customizations than the free version. We might also be able to setup a member's directory that is limited to being viewed by members only.

This is where you come in....

If five members or friends donate $60, SHoWLE can purchase a 1 year license for the "Pro" version of the plugin. If you can help us out, donate using the following link and in the note area mention it is for the membership database.

Database Donation

Upcoming Meetings and Events

How To Deal With Holidays Based In Religion
Saturday, November 20, 2021 1 PM
Kent Branch Library 3101 Collingwood Blvd Toledo, OH 43610

There are many holidays celebrated in the United States that have roots in religious beliefs. Although some non-believers celebrate the larger holidays like Christmas, what ways can the non-believer participate in holidays that are largely religious in nature without compromising our principles?

We will be having a group discussion about how we deal with religious holidays and share any stories we feel comfortable in sharing.

We will be meeting in Community Room B

Unless otherwise noted, all our meetings and events are open to the public and we adhere to the SHoWLE In-person Meeting Policy

More Upcoming Events

Our Podcast: Glass City Humanist

In this episode, we talk to the well known and respected Dr. PZ Myers about the war on science, spiders, and why we shouldn't put heroes on pedestals including PZ himself.

1:34 PZ's Origin Story
3:17 The War On Science
9:00 How PZ Became An Atheist
13:19 Calling Out Bad Atheists
17:49 The Myth Of Cancel Culture
22:11 Spiders! Oh My!!

There is a video version of this episode available on the Glass City Humanist YouTube page. We also have some bonus content available on our Ko-fi.com donation page. If you are a voting member of SHoWLE and would like to see the bonus content for any episode let us know and we will give you access. We also won't turn down a donation for the podcast if you want to make one.

In this episode, we talk to Emily Newman from the American Humanist Association about forced patriotism, the false narrative about Critical Race Theory being taught in school and what's coming up from the AHA as it looks for a new executive director.

00:57 Forced Patriotism
08:39 The Myth of Critical Race Theory
17:41 An AHA Update

You can get early access to the video version of this episode and other bonus content available on our Ko-fi.com donation page. If you are a voting member of SHoWLE and would like to see the bonus content for any episode let us know and we will give you access. We also won't turn down a donation for the podcast if you want to make one.

Check out our Podcast

For more information and to check out our past episodes visit the Glass City Humanist website.

More News & Notes

Board Meetings

The Board of Directors meets every other month with the next meeting sometime in January. If you are a voting member (you paid dues) and would like to observe a Board meeting or have questions or concerns about the Board of Directors, please send us a note using our contact form.

More Options To Give Us Donations
We now can accept donations using two apps you might have on your phone. You can now use Venmo and Cash App to send us donations. Just use the correct tag for the right app. Venmo is @toledohumanists and our Cash App tag is $humanistswle.

If you want to join the group instead of just donating then we would like you to visit our membership page.

Use Your Phone With Zoom

Did you know you don't have to use video when joining us for meetings and events on Zoom?

In fact you can use your telephone and call into the meeting without using a computer. When you register for a meeting you will get a link and other information on how to join the meeting. One of those options is to call into the meeting by phone. If seeing the speaker isn't a priority or you just aren't able to use a computer you can join us on the phone. We do ask that when you join the meeting just let us know who you are.

We Have a Wish List Page

We have an Amazon Smile wish list that people can purchase items from and send to us. Some people, for personal reasons, refuse to shop at Amazon and we respect that. We have copied our list onto a web page on the website.

If you would like to fill our wish list but not from Amazon then just look for our items where you do shop, buy them, and send them to us at SHoWLE PO Box 6433 Toledo, OH 43613 If you would rather drop them off to us, contact us and we can arrange a drop off.

Also note that except for the books, we are not married to a particular product manufacturer on this list. For example we would like four folding chairs with padding but they don’t have to be from Flash Furniture.

Software we use were recently added so you can sponsor a full year of Zoom or Adobe Cloud for the group to use.

Do you have an idea for a meeting or event?

Do you have an idea for a topic for a meeting or an activity for us to do as a group? Let us know.

If there is a particular topic or speaker you would like to see at a future meeting or have an idea for a group activity then please send us a note by email or fill out our contact form.

It would help if you provided as much information as possible about the idea - like who to contact or websites to visit.

There is no guarantee SHoWLE will turn your idea into an actual meeting or event but the odds increase if you are willing to host the event and/or do a lot of the leg work.

Activities and meetings for SHoWLE depend entirely on volunteer effort.

Are you a member?

Joining the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie gets you the following benefits:

A monthly meeting with like minded people
Ability to guide and vote on the direction of the group
Serve in leadership positions and on our Board of Directors
Regular communications about meetings, events, and other topics of interest to the group before the general public

We have two membership plans:

$10 for an Individual
$20 for a Household (two or more people at the same address)

Just see a Board member at our next meeting or event or click on the button below to pay online or to get information on mailing it in.

Join Now

Do you have a special skill or hobby? Do you have an idea for a program or event you would like to see hosted by SHoWLE??
Let us know!

Send us your idea for a program or event

You can now donate to the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie

Please help us provide a supportive local community for humanists and other nontheists, while promoting ethical and reasonable secular world views through education, community service, outreach, activism, and social events.

You can use Paypal or a credit card. Donations are tax deductible.

Donate Online

You can always donate at one of our meetings or events or send your check or money order to:

Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie
PO Box 6433
Toledo, OH 43612-0433

We are also connected with the Amazon Smile program. If you choose SHoWLE as your charity then a portion of sales you complete will be sent to us. Use this link to choose us:

Amazon Smiles

Our Mission:

The mission of the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie is to provide a supportive local community for humanists and other nontheists, while promoting an ethical, reasonable, and secular approach to life through education, community service, outreach, activism, and social events.

We envision a Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan where secular people are respected and integrated in broader society, live values of reason and compassion, and enjoy a friendly humanist community.