Newtown Quaker Kids Invite Public to Simple Supper Friday, Nov. 3

Young waiters at Newtown Quaker Meeting Simple Supper 2016

Quaker Kids to Host Simple Supper at Newtown Meetinghouse

The Newtown Quaker Meeting children and teenagers will host a Simple Supper to raise funds for their selected charity this year on Friday, November 3rd from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Quaker Meetinghouse, 219 Court Street, Newtown. The children of the meeting will be serving delicious soups, breads and desserts.

The young people of the Quaker Meeting have decided the proceeds of the Simple Supper this year will support US hurricane relief via the All Hands Volunteers charity. All Hands supports communities as they rebuild, offering assistance such as: debris and downed tree removal so homeowners can return to their neighborhoods, gutting and mold removal from damaged homes and businesses, and rebuilding schools. All Hands Volunteers relies on volunteers and donations to offer these crucial services to communities in need.

In lieu of tickets for the Simple Supper, attendees are asked to make donations. Last year the Quaker kids collected $1,860.07 in donations for their charity.

After the Simple Supper, all are invited to the free fall theater performance at George School at 8 p.m. of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, The play is based on Henry David Thoreau and the night he spent in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax given his concerns that the money might be used to pay for the Mexican-American war, which he opposed.

Last year, the Simple Supper proceeds of $1,860.07 were sent to Syrian refugee relief via the Shelterbox charity which provides emergency shelter and vital supplies such as family tents, thermal blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, and mosquito nets to refugees in Syria and in camps in the neighboring countries of Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Greece.

Lisa Li of West Windsor, NJ, head of the children’s Simple Supper Committee, said, “The children and teens of the Meeting participate in the Quaker discernment process in choosing a charity to support. They learn the fundamentals of the process which involves reaching a ‘sense of the meeting’ instead of taking a vote while working together to research and agree on which charity should be the focus of this year’s Simple Supper.”

Previous recipients of the funds raised at charitable events by the Newtown Quaker young people have been: Valley Youth House's Synergy Project for homeless youth in Bucks County and Allentown,; Haiti Relief; The School for Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), the first boarding school for girls in Afghanistan; Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank; Mercer Street Friends Center in Trenton; Penndel Food Pantry; Save Darfur; and Heifer International.

Newtown Friends Meeting, co-founded by the Quaker artist and minister, Edward Hicks, in 1815, holds services every First Day (Sunday). During the school year, First Day classes for children and adults are at 9:45 a.m. and Meeting for Worship at 11:00 a.m. Professional childcare is provided. All meetings are open to the public and visitors are warmly welcomed.