Category Archives: Newsletter articles

Understanding our Listserv

Ithaca Quakers communicate via email frequently. We use Groups.io listservs as an easy way to get information to a large group of people quickly and consistently. The listservs allow anyone who is a subscribed member of the listserv to send an email to one specific email address and that message then shows up in the email inbox of everyone else who is subscribed to the listserv.

Our Announcements listserv is the core or main group in our Groups.io listserv account. It’s where we share messages about official events, news, or activities of Ithaca Quaker Meeting or the wider Quaker world.

We have two other Groups.io listservs, or subgroups, for sharing other types of information:

Witness is for messages related to Quaker testimonies or witness. This is where we can share information about social justice, work toward peace, or Earthcare events, activities, or information. Here is a link to join this: Witness

Community list is for sharing more general information, appeals, and happenings we want to share with our Meeting community. Posts that might be shared here might include requests for pet sitting, sharing of information about music recitals or art shows, notices about local events or fundraisers an Ithaca Friend is involved with. Here is a link to join this: Community

Why do We Have Three Listservs?

Several years ago, Ithaca Meeting recognized that some Friends only want to receive the bare minimum of email about the Meeting (just official events please!) while others want to share much more. To balance the need for information with not overwhelming people, the Communications Committee set up three different lists in our groups.io account. You can choose whether or not to receive email from each of the sub-lists.

Which Listserv to Use

Not sure which listserv to use to share information with others in Meeting? Think about the content of the message. Use the Announcements list if the message is:

an announcement about an event hosted by or for Ithaca Monthly Meeting or one of our committees
something for or from a wider Quaker organization
There are also a few emails about organizations that Ithaca Meeting is officially a member of, such as Area Congregations Together (ACT) or Kitchen Cupboard, that are sent to the Announcements listserv.

If it’s not immediately obvious that the content of your message is about Ithaca Meeting or Quakers, send it to either the Community or Witness listserv.

If the message is related to one of our Quaker testimonies or areas of concern (such as non-violence, racial justice, anti-racism, or social justice), the Witness list is probably the best choice.
All other emails can be sent to the Community listserv.
As a general rule: if in doubt, send it to the Community listserv!

If you’re tempted to send an email to both the Witness and Community listservs, please reconsider. The majority of people on the Witness list are also on the Community list.

Who Can Join the Listserv?

Any individual who wants to stay in regular contact with Ithaca Quakers or know what’s going on in our Meeting is welcome to join the listserv. The majority of people in our Announcements listserv regularly attend or are active in Ithaca Meeting. There are some people who used to be part of our Meeting but have moved out of the area. There are a few people who are involved with other Quaker Meetings or faith communities in the area, or who are involved with other Quaker organizations.

Getting too much email?

One of the nice things about the groups.io service is that it is easy to control the frequency of email delivery. Most people in our listserv either receive each message as it’s sent or receive several messages at a time in a digest or summary. You could even opt to receive no email and instead visit the groups.io website to read messages.

All the messages sent to our groups.io listservs are available to be read on a website, so there’s an easily accessible archive of what’s been sent and you can go back and search for a topic or message. To read messages on the groups.io website, you’ll need to create a login and password for that site.

We’re fundraising for Meetinghouse renewal!

Meeting is anticipating some expensive repairs to both of the Meetinghouses that we lovingly steward, including repairing/replacing the stucco siding at Third Street and addressing a rotting subfloor at Hector Meetinghouse.

Third Street Meetinghouse wall awaiting repair

As the estimated costs for these repairs far exceed the existing funds for meetinghouse repairs, Meeting approved the creation of a Fundraising Working Group back in November and charged it to create and execute a fundraising plan.

Friends, we are happy to announce that fundraising has now begun! The Fundraising Working Group has set a “Phase One” goal of $100,000, and we are thrilled to say that we are already making progress. As of January 30, 2025, we have raised $21,841; that is 21% of our goal.

In addition to inviting Friends to consider making [additional] gifts towards Meetinghouse renewal, we’d like to encourage Friends to share news of our fundraising efforts with others where appropriate. We see that community members outside of and beyond Ithaca Monthly Meeting find value in our Meetinghouses. The Fundraising Committee will be actively reaching out to the users of the Third Street Meetinghouse, for example, but we expect there are others who feel connected to these spaces and feel led to make a gift.

Anyone may make a gift online using this link, or by sending a check directly to the Meeting’s Treasurer, Pat Sewell (see address below). We expect to have a donation box in the Meetinghouse soon. All donations to the Meeting are tax deductible. Any size of donation is greatly appreciated, as are your efforts to spread the word about our fundraising efforts.

Make checks payable to IMMRSF and write Meetinghouse Renewal in the memo line. Mail donation to:

Ithaca Monthly Meeting Treasurer

120 Third Street

Ithaca, NY 14850

2024 Witness Fund Donations

Local

Catholic Charities: Interfaith Assistance Fund
324 W Buffalo St
Ithaca, NY 14850

Ithaca Catholic Worker: Peter DeMott Peace Trot
411 Plain St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
The Peace Trot occurs on Fathers’ Day each year, with fundraising happening in the weeks leading up to it.

Cayuga Lake Watershed
PO Box 348
Aurora, NY 13026

Farm Sanctuary
P.O. BOX 150
Watkins Glen, NY 14891

First Congregational Church of Ithaca: Sanctuary Ministries
309 Highland Road
Ithaca, NY 14850

Friends Center for Racial Justice
227 Willard Way
Ithaca, NY 14850

Friendship Donation Center
1013 West Martin Luther King Jr. / State Street
Ithaca, NY 14850

Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC): Robin Fund
301 W Court St.
Ithaca, NY 14850

Ithaca Monthly Meeting: Project Abundance
To donate online, click Donate in the menu at the top of this page, then select the button for “Donate to the Ithaca Monthly Meeting General Fund”. Add “Project Abundance” to the section to write a note.
Read more about Project Abundance here.

Open Doors English
Ithaca, NY 14850

Village At Ithaca
401 West Seneca St.
Ithaca, NY 14850

National Connections

American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102

AFSC U.S.-Mexico Border Program
3850 Westgate Place
San Diego, CA 92105

Earthjustice
Earthjustice Gift Processing Center
P.O. Box 96346
Washington, DC 20077-7953

Indigenous Environmental Network
PO Box 485
Bemidji, MN 56619

Nonviolent Peaceforce
U.S. Main Office
2143 Lowry Ave N, Suite A
Minneapolis, MN 55411

Our Children’s Trust
P.O. Box 5181
Eugene, OR 97405

Quaker House
223 Hillside Ave
Fayetteville, NC 28301

International

Bolivian Quaker Education Fund
PO Box 6847
Ithaca, NY 14851

Friends International Bilingual Center (FIBC): Food Security Project
For sending a check, contact centrobilingueamigos7bo@gmail.com

Friends International Bilingual Center (FIBC): Right Sharing of World Resource
For sending a check, contact centrobilingueamigos7bo@gmail.com

Public Citizen
1600 20th Street NW
Washington DC 20009

United Palestinian Appeal
2461 Eisenhower Ave
2nd Floor, #035
Alexandria, VA 22314

Via La Campesina

Ithaca Friends Meeting Discernment for FCNL Priorities

by Ruth Yarrow

On Sunday March 17, eleven Friends from our Meeting gathered and discerned priorities they would like to see Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) address in the 2025-2027 Congress. Below is the list we have sent to FCNL. The four sections of the FCNL legislative policy statement are in bold italics; our priorities are capitalized, with specific issues listed under them.

We seek a world free of war and the threat of war.

1. Cut Military Spending

Sign the Non-proliferation Treaty.
End military support for Israel.
End the Korean war.
End production and upgrading of nuclear weapons.
Analyze effects of US military on the climate crisis.

We seek a society with equity and justice for all.

2. FUND NEEDS OF OPPRESSED PEOPLE

Reinstate guaranteed income. (Research shows it’s used for basics – food, housing – and better future.)
Legislate maximum income. (e.g., limit ratio of worker to CEO salary.)
Federal support for low-income areas, rural and urban, especially health care.
Lower the age of edibility for Medicare.
Federal funds for education at all levels.

3. CHANGE ECONOMIC POLICY

Tax the rich.
Prohibit privatization of health care by insurance companies.
End Citizens United.
Mandate public identification of candidates’ income sources.
Cut out loopholes in corporate tax evasion.

We seek a community where every person’s potential may be fulfilled.

4. FEDERAL/LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Pass the ERA; uproot patriarchy.
Push for national reproductive rights.
Prohibit book bans.
Provide citizenship for Dreamers.
Support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Prohibit privatized prisons.
Replace mass imprisonment with restorative justice.
Protect freedom of religion and speech.
Legislate humane border policies.

We seek an earth restored.

5. FEDERAL WATER PROTECTION BECAUSE WATER IS LIFE.

Prevent crypto mining, fracking and other over-use of water.
Ensure equitable water access and quality. Prohibit all water pollution.

Dispatch from Earth: Finding the Spirit in Mindful Eating

by Betsy Keokosky

IMM Earthcare spent the first half of last year reading and discerning on the food sections of “Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation” by Paul Hawken. It informed us that 35% of the world’s carbon emissions come from food production and processing and that “today’s food system has become the single greatest cause of global warming, soil loss, chemical poisoning, chronic disease, rainforest destruction and dying oceans.”

There are multiple ways of understanding these words, “mindful eating.” It encompasses a wide range of things, such as paying attention to the sensory experiences of taste, touch, and smell that are the pleasures of eating; paying attention to food as the nutrition that builds our bodies and health; paying attention to where and how our food is coming from.

Quakers, I think, also tend to connect mindful eating with our outsized human effect on this planet. Mindful Eating was the theme of New York Yearly Meeting’s January 2023 issue of their Spark newsletter* and the editors defined mindful eating as “Nourishing All Life While Nourishing Ourselves.”

To me when we look for the spirit in mindful eating, we are looking for connections like Thich Nhat Hahn’s conception of “interbeing,” or Donella Meadow’s “system thinking,” or Robin Kimmerer’s description of “indigenous wisdom.” Mindful eating is not just a set of rules to eat less meat or avoid processed food. For better or for worse, we are all crowded, more closely connected on this planet, and we can no longer act without consequences. We share them.

Mindful eating is, for me, the understanding that we are part of the slow unfolding that is the miracle of growth and decay. We are not outside looking in, but participate in this planetary ecosystem, in a deeply organic way. I call this “spirit” or “sacred” because what can be more sacred than the intricate interrelationships –which we cannot begin to understand– of life, time, and space on this planet. If we think of how billions and trillions of beings co-exist with us, big and small, short-lived and long-lived, each experiencing time and space from the vantage point of their own scale and life span, what does that do to our own human-centered sense of reality? We are all living side by side with vastly different experiential perceptions of what the world is like, each encapsulated in our own bubble of sensory filters. Yet we are interdependent and overlapping in ways that are incredibly complex. How do we even comprehend this?

The food chain is part of this amazing logic that inexorably connects us all. We humans have brought ourselves to the top of the food chain, but we have yet to understand how truly interdependent we are on others that need a place at the table. Let us open our eyes to the spirit and find a love and gratitude that nourishes all life, even as we are nourishing ourselves.

*An expanded booklet version of the Spark issue on Mindful Eating includes articles by several IMM people: Betsy Keokosky, Margaret McCasland, Cai Quirk and Joshua Quirk. It is available at www.nyym.org/sites/default/files/Mindful-Eating-booklet.pdf.

All About Heat Pumps – a Presentation by Earthcare

Ithaca Monthly Meeting’s Earthcare Committee invites you to a presentation on Heat Pumps, on Thursday, February 8 at 7:00pm via Zoom. The speakers will be Anne Rhodes and Leigh Miller from Cornell Cooperative Extension

During our October listening session on Earthcare, some people shared that they love their heat pumps. Others asked questions and expressed concerns about them. Are they appropriate for everyone? What are the advantages? What are the problems? Now we can offer you some answers!

New York is on the cutting edge of using energy-efficient heat pumps to change the ways that we heat and cool our buildings and that we heat our water. In NYS, millions of dollars of incentives to install heat pumps are currently available.

This presentation will talk about the range of heat pump options, their pros and cons, and introduce ways to navigate the incentives. Let us know what YOUR questions are, and Anne and Leigh, both knowledgeable Community Energy Educators, will be ready to answer them.

Depending on your building and the surrounding land, a heat pump can be geothermal (using the ground or a body of water) or air-source. You can install a “stand-alone” hot water heater, or have it be part of your whole house heating system. If “right-sized” and properly installed in an energy-efficient building, heat pumps use small amounts of electricity. And yes, there are now “cold weather” heat pumps” that can even handle an Arctic blast!

As our planet warms, the ability to cool our buildings (one of heat pumps’ big advantages over traditional heating systems) will become ever more important. More importantly, intergenerational justice — our love for the people and other beings who will be living in the world of the future — calls us to limit future warming as much as possible (AMAP) by reducing our use of fossil fuels as soon as possible (ASAP). Installing heat pumps in buildings we own and/or help make decisions about is a key way we can substantially reduce our use of fossil fuels AMAP ASAP.

Communicating Within IMM

Simplicity may be one of our Quaker testimonies, but sharing or finding information about Ithaca Monthly Meeting (IMM) is complicated! As a Meeting, we use numerous communication methods in an effort to provide information and create community among F/friends. Some of the ways we share information include:

Email sent to the IMM listserv
Our monthly newsletter
Announcements at the rise of Meeting
Events listed in the Calendar on our website
A detailed announcement or explanation shared in a blog post on our website (Such as what you’re currently reading.)
Phone calls from a designated person in Meeting to F/friends
A notice is posted in the Meetinghouse (generally only used for the annual meeting of the IMMRSF Corporation)
A letter or note mailed to Friends’ homes (This is increasingly less common, though the Finance Committee usually mails a letter near the end of the year asking Friends to consider donating to the Meeting.)
If there are documents or files to review (such as agenda, minutes, and reports for Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business), they may be stored in a shared online drive and a link sent via the listserv and included in the newsletter. Sometimes documents are sent as attachments via the listserv.

As we said, many ways to share information! Which methods we use depend on various factors, including how complex the information is, who needs to know, and when they need to know. We tend to use multiple methods to share the same information because we want to be sure everyone has an opportunity to see it. This is helpful because people have different preferences or options for receiving information. It can also be problematic because we risk not being consistent in the information we share (e.g., an email may list the start time of a discussion as 9am, but the calendar says 9:15am). Sharing the same information multiple ways can also add to confusion about how and where to share and receive information.

The first two items in the list of methods – the newsletter and the listserv – may be the most confusing to Friends, mainly because more than one email list is involved and there are additional options within the method.

Newsletter. Our newsletter can be found a few ways: it arrives in your email inbox; a few printed copies are available at the meetinghouses; and online versions are available on the Newsletter page of our IMM website (including an archive of previous newsletters dating back to 2006!) To make sure the IMM newsletter arrives in your email inbox, you need to be subscribed to the IMM Newsletter list (which is separate from the IMM listserv). If you’re subscribed and still don’t receive the newsletter, check your spam folder. You may need to add immcommcomm@gmail.com to your contacts list so your email recognizes our newsletter.

Listserv. We communicate via email frequently, and use Groups.io listservs as an easy way to get information to a large group of people. The groups.io listserv allows anyone who is a subscribed member of the listserv to send an email to one specific email address and that message then shows up in the email inbox of everyone else who is subscribed to the listserv. Because some Friends only want to receive the bare minimum of email about the Meeting (just official events please!) while others want to share much more, we have set up three different lists in our groups.io account. Each person can choose whether or not to receive email from each of the sub-lists.

The main, foundational list is Announcements (announcements@IMMRSF.groups.io). This list is used to communicate about the official events of Ithaca Monthly Meeting and associated Quaker bodies (e.g. FSRM, NYYM, and FGC). Then there are two sub-groups: Witness (witness@IMMRSF.groups.io) and Community (community@IMMRSF.groups.io). Everyone who joins any of the IMMRSF.groups.io lists is automatically a member of the Announcements list; it is the core or main group.

How are the three lists to be used?

Announcements is only for news and events of Ithaca Monthly Meeting or wider Quaker bodies. Since this is the core list, we want to keep the focus narrow and specific. Some of the recent messages sent to the Announcements list include:

A reminder from the Clerk about Meeting for Worship and our monthly potluck lunch
Reminders about Talent Night
Announcements about our Peace & Social Justice or Earthcare committee meetings, including the links to join the meeting via Zoom
Notices of workshops being offered at Powell House (a retreat center associated with New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM).

Witness is for messages related to Quaker testimonies or witness. This is where we can share information about social justice, peace witness, or Earthcare events, activities, or information. Messages recently sent to the Witness list include:

A plea to tell Ithaca Common Council not to pull funding from Southside Community Center
An announcement about a panel discussion on fracking (featuring Ithaca Friend Sandra Steingraber)
Information about the conflict in Israel and Gaza, including pleas to contact elected officials about specific actions.

Community is for sharing more general information, notices, questions, and happenings we want to share with our Meeting community. The purpose of the Community list is to build social connections among the members and attenders of IMM. Recent messages shared to the Community list include:

An invitation to a fundraiser
An announcement about author Robin Wall Kimmerer speaking at Cornell (this was also shared to the Witness list)
An offer of dining room furniture
A request for information about potential housing from Quakers who will be moving to Ithaca.

Getting too much email?

How to decide which communication method to use?

Still not sure how or where to share information with others in Meeting? The easiest and quickest way is to send an email to one of the listservs. Which listserv you use depends on the content of the message. If it’s an announcement about an event hosted by or for Ithaca Monthly Meeting or one of our committees, use the Announcements list. Same guideline applies if it’s for or from a wider Quaker organization. There are also a few emails about organizations that Ithaca Meeting is officially a member of, such as Area Congregations Together (ACT) or Kitchen Cupboard, that are sent to the Announcements listserv.

If it’s not immediately obvious that the content of your message is about Ithaca Meeting or Quakers, send it to either the Community or Witness listserv. If the message is related to one of our Quaker testimonies or areas of concern (such as non-violence, racial justice, anti-racism, or social justice), the Witness list is probably the best choice. All other emails can be sent to the Community listserv. If you’re tempted to send an email to both the Witness and Community listservs, please reconsider. The majority of people on the Witness list are also on the Community list.

My general rule: if in doubt, send it to the Community listserv!

You may also be able to share your information via one of the other communication methods listed at the beginning of this article, especially if it’s about an IMM or Quaker event. Talk to the Clerk of meeting to have something included in announcements at the Rise of Meeting. If you’d like something included in the monthly newsletter or on the website, talk to the Communications Committee.

Report from the March to End Fossil Fuels

by Betsy Keokosky

On Sunday September 17, I was lucky enough to find myself on a chartered bus driving to New York City through very early morning sunlight with people from Extinction Rebellion (the bus organizers) sitting in front of me, and students from Cornell climate action groups in the rows behind me. The March to End Fossil Fuels was one of the most diverse marches I have ever been on. As their website said, it was “a broad-based collaboration among New York grassroots organizations; Black, People of Color, Indigenous and frontline communities living next to oil and gas facilities and infrastructure; youth, elders, workers, people of faith, and people of all backgrounds impacted by fossil fuels and climate disasters across the U.S.” Climate Change is affecting us all now.

Besides the diversity, I was also struck by how this march was connecting environmental protest to spirituality, across all faiths, in a way that I hadn’t seen much before. Many people were there to ask President Biden to declare a climate emergency and stop incentivizing fossil fuels, but I felt we were also there because we were reshaping our religious and ethical beliefs to recognize and engage with the sacredness of life on this planet we share.

I stumbled across a wonderful religious rally before the march started that I later learned was a multi-faith Invocation of Spirit:

Invocation of Spirit

People of many diverse faiths and spiritual communities will gather for an Invocation —inviting the spirit of the divine within our traditions, as well as the spirits of our ancestors, of future generations, of nature, plants, animals, elements, and all the places of the earth affected by what happens in NYC (the UN, Wall Street, etc) to march with us and help us to have the love, strength and courage we need to create a just and thriving world. People of all ages and cultural traditions are invited!
GreenFaith

I listened to these religious leaders as, one by one, they took the podium and spoke to the surrounding crowd. It was a moving experience to stare up to the blue sky between NY City skyscrapers and hear people of all faiths acknowledge our dependence on Earth.

This event was organized through two interesting organizations: GreenFaith, a coalition of faith-based grassroots climate justice movements; and The Center for Earth Ethics located in Union Theological Seminary.

The Center defines Earth Ethics as “The discernment of how to live in relationship with the living planet. … [it] reminds us that we are connected to the Earth and that our moral obligations extend across space, time and even species.”

They further elaborate that Earth Ethics:

acknowledges that those who are least responsible for pollution and depletion of the natural world are the most harmed by them,
extends moral concern to future generations,
extends moral concern to nonhuman life, and
recognizes the planet as a living whole.

They also noted that “We amplify and engage with Indigenous wisdom to reorient society back toward nature and shape a more eco-centric world.” (source: https://centerforearthethics.org/what-are-earth-ethics-tk/)

Peace & Social Justice Committee Allies with Ithaca Sanctuary Alliance

An Update on the Afghan Women’s Fund

Written by Margaret McCasland

Ithaca Monthly Meeting has had a long and loving relationship with the Afghan Women’s Fund and its director, Fahima Gaheez (formerly Vorgetts). Fahima used to visit Ithaca regularly to update us on their work and to sell rugs and handcrafts to support AWF’s work. Barbara Barry and Fahima were especially close, and they stayed in touch until Barbara’s passing.

The Afghan Women’s Fund currently needs an infusion of funds to launch an innovative program “that could put education in reach of literally tens of thousands of Afghan girls and young women. We can’t share details yet, but we look to 2023 determined to make it work.”

One of the rugs sold by the Afghan Women's Fund

One of the best ways you can support her work is to purchase one of the hand woven rugs from central or western Asia that she sells to raise funds. You can see photos of the rugs here.

The following (lightly edited) letter is from the Fall 2022 issue of the newsletter of the Afghan Women’s Fund. To also see stories and photos from regions around Afghanistan, see the full newsletter.

Dear friends and supporters,
This year, the Afghan people, including AWF volunteers on the ground, faced more severe challenges.

Working in the Taliban’s Afghanistan is very hard, yet the resilience of our volunteers, teachers, and the women, men, young people and elders is unmatched in the face of their harsh situation. Many local efforts have been successful due to their determination and resourcefulness despite the circumstances, although limited by desperate needs for funding.

While it is possible to move supplies and money to support projects, everything must be done very carefully due to poorly functioning infrastructure in many sectors and the harsh and inconsistent rule of the Taliban. For example, many AWF vocational training projects have been on hold because two key volunteers were killed and another jailed and tortured and now is in hiding. In some locations the teachers and volunteers who have run AWF-supported adult literacy and vocational projects just cannot publicly do so at this time.

So this is a time of working as hard as possible where we can, and working delicately and persistently to expand that space. In the past year this has meant a focus on elementary education and supporting dogged local efforts in several provinces to make high school level education available for girls.

Looking Ahead, AWF remains dedicated to women’s rights and empowerment, no matter the circumstances. This year has been trying for the people of Afghanistan and we are honored to work alongside them to find ways around the obstacles.

Recently we began working on a new program that could put education in reach of literally tens of thousands of Afghan girls and young women. We can’t share details yet, but we look to 2023 determined to make it work. And to share it with you.

We are very careful doing our work and always emphasize caution to our volunteers. Many activists, organizers, and average people (including AWF volunteers) have been killed, tortured, or jailed by Taliban in the past year. Others have had their homes confiscated and had to go into hiding to stay safe, only to have family members harassed and even abducted. Many struggle to have enough food and adequate living conditions. But they still do what they can, as we must as well.

Afghans are knocked down over and over again, yet they stand up again each time. And you, who believe in humanity, thank you for being there for them. Your donations and other assistance literally make the difference. Every help – small or large – gives them hope.

Thank you for your trust, love, and support. Please be in touch!

Best wishes in these difficult times,
Fahima Gaheez
Director, Afghan Women’s Fund
Excerpt from the Fall 2022 newsletter of the Afghan Women’s Fund

From their website: https://www.afghanwomensfund.org/

“Since 2002, Afghan Women’s Fund has been dedicated to rebuilding Afghanistan with a focus on empowering women and girls through education, access to healthcare, and vocational opportunities. Over the years, AWF has built and opened new schools for girls, developed literacy and computer skills classes for women, created income-generating projects for widows to help them become self-sufficient, distributed warm clothing and school supplies to refugees and guided numerous other humanitarian and educational projects like digging wells for clean drinking water and irrigation, building and supplying hospitals and clinics, and donating resources to widows.”