Ending hunger in WA, especially at K-12 schools and colleges, continues to be a deep commitment for FAN. We are grateful to FAN supporters Trevor Sandison and Darcy Huffman (who also serves as an Olympia school board member) for representing FAN this week with the Washington State Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition, legislators, and other advocates as the Governor signed bills providing Free School Meals for 90,000 more students and creating Hunger-Free College Campuses.

Keep Our Advocacy Moving Forward!

Each spring, we share with you our midyear reflections and the successes you’ve helped make possible, and we invite your financial support to ensure a future full of hope.

The theme Pathways to Solidarity has guided our year since last fall. One component of this theme has been solidarity with each other as we reconnected after a time apart. Gathering at our Annual Dinner celebration in Renton and Spokane, convening with energy for advocacy at Interfaith Advocacy Day in Olympia, and visiting faith communities throughout the state have been hallmarks of our year. At a time of division and polarization in our nation, our multifaith solidarity with each other is transformative.

Solidarity is where love and justice meet. Solidarity provides the pathway for living out Dr. Cornel West’s powerful declaration that “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Building solidarity for racial equity and social justice for people and communities affected by the policies we work on is vital to FAN’s vision. This is work for the long haul, and we are constantly changing and learning how to be more effective. Some faith leaders, staff, and advocates have shared compelling thoughts on solidarity with us through the year. You can view videos with our reflections at SU-CEIE-solidarity and on our YouTube channel. Such wisdom creates hope for the journey.

Your partnership and financial support are key for continuing to strengthen solidarity!

Your engagement with FAN helps build our statewide network and makes love and justice tangible in our communities. Please consider a SOLIDARITY GIFT to FAN this spring:

  • ONLINE: Make a gift between now and June 11 (our anniversary!) at FANWA.org and use the “Donate” button. Our current fundraising goal is $20,000, and a few generous donors have stepped forward to offer a $5,000 matching pool, doubling the first $5,000 gifts!
  • BY MAIL: Contribute by sending a check to FAN at PO Box 80663, Seattle, WA 98108, where every dollar immediately helps support our work for justice!
  • WORKPLACE GIVING: Does your employer offer a match? FAN is a 501(c3) nonprofit eligible for workplace giving through many corporate platforms. Let us know!
  • PLANNED GIVING: There will always be a need for faith voices and actions in solidarity. Consider FAN in your planned giving. Please see our planned giving page and consider how your own plans align with FAN’s commitment to the common good.

In recent weeks we have shared good news from the 2023 WA State Legislative Session, including some amazing victories for the people and communities of our beautiful state—all with thanks for your support of FAN and your advocacy for justice.

  • You may have seen that the hunger and safety net bills were among the first to pass—enhancing emergency food support, providing more school meals for K-12 students, and expanding basic-needs support for college students.
  • We especially celebrate the removal of the death penalty from state law this year after being deemed unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court. Faith communities have been involved in this work for decades.
  • And in a year where we have grieved multiple mass shootings, our state took steps to limit assault weapons, add comprehensive background checks, and hold the gun manufacturers accountable for controls.

These are incredible victories that we worked hard for in coalition throughout the year. You can view these and other legislative successes on our website in both short and longer formats. Where bills on our agenda did not pass, we have more work to do.

Your solidarity, your love for your community, your passion for justice makes us stronger! Your gift will help us stand in solidarity and raise our statewide voices. On behalf of Faith Action Network’s governing board and staff, we give thanks for you!

DONATE

Carrying Out MMIWP Commitments

On May 5 and during the first week of May, we remembered Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP), as well as their relatives. FAN advocated for and helped win statewide alerts for missing indigenous people in 2022, and establishment of a MMIWP cold-case unit in 2023, which will bring more capacity to investigations.

We invite you to take the follow-up action of subscribing to Washington State Patrol email alerts about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People. Receiving these alerts will give you an opportunity to hold these endangered persons and their families in prayer, as Rev. Linda Smith, retired Lutheran pastor and Tulalip elder, suggested in a recent meeting of our Interfaith Network with Indigenous Communities. Subscribe here.

You might also want to watch the powerful TEDxYouth talk “Running for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” by Rosalie Fish, member of the Cowlitz and Muckleshoot tribes, youth athlete, and former intern with the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WSCADV). You can find it here, as well as a compilation of events and resources shared by WSCADV.

We also want to highlight the Red Dress Installation at Edmonds United Methodist Church. This installation is inspired by the REDress Project by Metis artist Jaime Black, who conceived it to “draw attention to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against Aboriginal women and to evoke a presence through the marking of absence.” The installation at Edmonds will be up until May 22.

Opportunities

Register now for our final Spring Summit on Sunday, June 4. We want to hear from every corner of our state, so we have opted for a virtual meeting. We plan to follow up with smaller, in-person cluster meetings and regional gatherings this summer and fall.

Join us for the June Spring Summit to hear a legislative session recap and strategize in small groups on the issues you care about. Let us know if you’d like to help facilitate an issue breakout group!

Register

Events

Saturday, May 13, in person, 9:30am-3:00pm, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, 16159 Clear Creek Road NW, Poulsbo. Honor Mothers and Mother Earth – Plant Seeds of Peace. Plant seeds, enjoy music from the Seattle Peace Chorus Action Ensemble, and learn from others working for peace and abolition of nuclear weapons.

Saturday, May 13, in person, 10:00am-5:00pm, Muslim Association of Puget Sound, 17550 NE 67th Court, Redmond. Community Health Fair and Clinic. The Muslim Association of Puget Sound and Muslim Community Resource Center will have health appointments by request as well as veterinarian appointments on site.

Saturday, May 13, 1:00pm, in person, Tacoma Northwest Detention Center, 1623 E J Street, Tacoma. Free Them All Caravan OR & WA to Tacoma Immigration Detention For Mother’s Day Vigil. Join La Resistencia to demand the closing of the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center and the end to deportations.

Wednesday, May 17, 4:00pm, online, Love & Solidarity: Film Showing and Panel Discussion with Filmmaker Michael Honey. Love & Solidarity is an exploration of nonviolence and organizing through the teachings of Rev. James Lawson. Lawson provided crucial strategy guidance while working with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the southern freedom struggles and more recently has worked with the Los Angeles labor movement. Register here.

Friday, May 19, 4:00-8:00pm, in person, Northwest African American Museum (NAAM), 2300 S Massachusetts Street, Seattle. Malcolm X Day. Join NAAM for the annual Malcolm X celebration in honor of his life and legacy on his birthday. This event will include a film screening and more.

Sunday, May 21, 10:00-noon and 2:00-3:30pm, in person and on line, Sravasti Abbey, 692 Country Lane, Newport. Sharing the Dharma Day. Newcomers and old friends gather to explore the Buddha’s teachings and share in community fellowship.

Sunday, May 21, 1:00pm, online, Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples. Learn about the history of colonialism in the United States and how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, respect, justice, and our shared humanity.

Sunday, May 28, 11:00am-12:30pm, in person and online, Rainier Arts Center, 3515 S Alaska Street, Seattle. Table Turning: The Prophetic Tradition in the Time of Neofascism with Dr. Cornel West and Valley and Mountain Fellowship.

Monday, June 5, 5:00pm, on line. Pulling Back the Curtain: Lies, Fraud, and Naked Profiteering in Medicare Privatization Schemes. Join Wendall Potter, advocate for universal healthcare and founder of the Center for Health & Democracy to discuss how to expand and protect Medicare.