This week (beginning April 17), Christians enter Holy Week, the solemn remembering of the events leading up to the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Jews celebrate the Passover story of deliverance from death and plague and slavery. And Earth Day falls on Friday -- Good Friday for Christians and the fourth day of Passover for Jews. It's an apt time to remember the cry of the earth and the call we all share to care for the wide world that is ever a gift of God. Here are some ideas for including the holy earth in the holy week.
The Centre Region Biking Coalition's Bike to Work week, held every May, has become Bike Awareness Month and there is much to do to explore and engage in this green and sustainable form of transportation. The Creation Care Coalition is getting in on the action with Bike To Worship Weekend events on May 15. Make plans now to ride your bike to your place of worship that weekend. The CCC is planning other great events that day, including an afternoon potluck picnic and a Bicycle Tour and Scavenger Hunt featuring visits to area churches. Check out the Bike to Worship page of this site for ever developing updates and details.
But don't stop at a weekend! Make May your month to get on the bike, hit State College's fantastic set of trails and plan a regular route to work, school and worship!
National Interfaith Power and Light has a great new resources that helps congregations connect climate change and issues of sustainability with global hunger. Check out Cool Harvest resources on the IPL website.
Q. Why do kids ride bikes to school?
A. Because it's too far to walk.
Do you have a bicycle that you no longer use? We know a lot of children in Ecuador who could use that bike to get to and from school. Without a bike, many of them will not be able to get a formal education beyond
elementary school. It truly is too far to walk.
The Center for Sustainability, the Centre Region Bicycle Coalition (CRBC) and Penn State Eco-Action are collecting unwanted, usable bicycles that can be shipped to Kichwa communities near Tena, Ecuador and used
by kids to get to and from school.
Here are the quick rules for bike donations (the longer version is below):
*You should donate a bike that you would ride on a dirt road without worrying that it might break.
*If it needs an easy fix, that's OK.
*If you have extra parts to donate, that's great!
*If you have $5 or $10 to contribute to getting it shipped, we could really use it!
*Drop it off along with the bike!
*We will NOT accept: frames without components, badly rusted bikes, poorly made bikes that regularly break down, tricycles, or scooters.
This year's collection is a pilot program. We want to see if Penn State can deliver 500 bicycles! For this year, we are working with the Kallari Association, a cooperative of nearly 900 cacao-farming families. Their organization will make it possible to distribute the bicycles throughout the Tena region. They anticipate that most of the bicycles will be used by children in these Kichwa communities.
The Kallari Association, begun in 1997, has helped its members generate sustainable income, so that they can fulfill their basic family needs without logging their rain forests or selling their land. For more information on the Kallari Association, visit: http://www.kallari.com
If you have a bicycle to donate are asked to bring them to one of several upcoming bicycle collection events:
The next bike collections will be held:
Friday, April 29, 8-4 PM at Bike-to-Work event at the Allen Street Gates
For more information see the Center for Sustainability web site — http://www.cfs.psu.edu/