Monday, February 19, 2007
Article in Fitchburg Pride
This week's issue of Fitchburg Pride includes an article outlining our city's involvement with the No Place For Hate® program. Be sure to check it out!
Monday, February 12, 2007
To Readers From Other Communities...
For those of you reading this blog who do not live in Fitchburg or another New England city or town currently participating in the No Place For Hate® program, please consider getting involved! To learn more about NPFH® and how to start up the program in your community, you can contact Myriam Zuber, New England Project Director at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), at 617-406-6300.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Fitchburg's First NPFH Committee Meeting
Welcome to the newly-established blog for Fitchburg's participation in the No Place for Hate Program® (NPFH®)! I wanted to start by posting a re-cap of last night's meeting. Formal meeting minutes will follow in the coming days.
NPFH® is a nationwide effort created by the Anti-Defamation League to foster inclusive community environments. There are approximately sixty cities and towns in Massachusetts participating in the program, including Acton, Leominster, Lexington, Melrose, New Bedford, Northampton, Peabody, Watertown, Wellesley, and Worcester.
Yesterday's meeting was facilitated by Myriam Zuber of the Anti-Defamation League, who is the Project Director for the NPFH® program. Meeting attendees included city residents, a youth sports coach, several religious leaders, a city councilor, and representatives from the Human Rights Commission, the Fitchburg Police Department, Fitchburg State College, Neighborhoods and You, Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, and the Fitchburg School Board. (My apologies to anyone I inadvertently missed on this list...I hope that you will send me an email or post a comment if I failed to include you!)
Fitchburg has declared its intentions to participate in the NPFH® program, and the next step is to begin organizing community activities related to the theme of understanding diversity. The group reviewed existing NPFH® programming suggestions and brainstormed an array of events that would be appropriate to arrange in our city. The decision was made to focus on developing a partnership with the school system to encourage students to interview members of different cultures, a graffiti “paint out” program, diversity-related parade floats and activities in association with Fitchburg’s July Civic Days celebration, and a “pot-luck” ethnic food dinner. At the next meeting, it will be determined to which of these events initial planning priority will be directed.
In addition to discussing future events, the group spoke of the importance of cataloging existing activities within the city that fit within the principles of the NPFH® program. There was also talk regarding options for publicizing NPFH® and related activities. The value of establishing relationships with local media outlets, such as Fitchburg Pride and FATV, was highlighted by many at the meeting. Efforts will also be made to create other communication outlets, such as a newsletter and this blog.
Ultimately, last night’s meeting provided an outstanding glimpse of what our community can accomplish under the auspices of the NPFH® program. However, success is dependent upon the involvement of as many people as possible, and all present agreed that we would love to have additional members of the community attend future meetings. So to anyone out there reading this, I would strongly encourage you to join us at the next meeting, which has been scheduled for Thursday, March 15, at 6:00 p.m. in the library at Memorial Middle School (615 Rollstone Street). Feel free to send me an email (address available in my profile) if you have any questions. I hope to meet many more participants next month!
Anyone who is interested in learning more about the Fitchburg NPFH® program can contact Yvette Cooks at 978-345-8664 or Mary McCaffrey at 978-345-9565.
NPFH® is a nationwide effort created by the Anti-Defamation League to foster inclusive community environments. There are approximately sixty cities and towns in Massachusetts participating in the program, including Acton, Leominster, Lexington, Melrose, New Bedford, Northampton, Peabody, Watertown, Wellesley, and Worcester.
Yesterday's meeting was facilitated by Myriam Zuber of the Anti-Defamation League, who is the Project Director for the NPFH® program. Meeting attendees included city residents, a youth sports coach, several religious leaders, a city councilor, and representatives from the Human Rights Commission, the Fitchburg Police Department, Fitchburg State College, Neighborhoods and You, Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, and the Fitchburg School Board. (My apologies to anyone I inadvertently missed on this list...I hope that you will send me an email or post a comment if I failed to include you!)
Fitchburg has declared its intentions to participate in the NPFH® program, and the next step is to begin organizing community activities related to the theme of understanding diversity. The group reviewed existing NPFH® programming suggestions and brainstormed an array of events that would be appropriate to arrange in our city. The decision was made to focus on developing a partnership with the school system to encourage students to interview members of different cultures, a graffiti “paint out” program, diversity-related parade floats and activities in association with Fitchburg’s July Civic Days celebration, and a “pot-luck” ethnic food dinner. At the next meeting, it will be determined to which of these events initial planning priority will be directed.
In addition to discussing future events, the group spoke of the importance of cataloging existing activities within the city that fit within the principles of the NPFH® program. There was also talk regarding options for publicizing NPFH® and related activities. The value of establishing relationships with local media outlets, such as Fitchburg Pride and FATV, was highlighted by many at the meeting. Efforts will also be made to create other communication outlets, such as a newsletter and this blog.
Ultimately, last night’s meeting provided an outstanding glimpse of what our community can accomplish under the auspices of the NPFH® program. However, success is dependent upon the involvement of as many people as possible, and all present agreed that we would love to have additional members of the community attend future meetings. So to anyone out there reading this, I would strongly encourage you to join us at the next meeting, which has been scheduled for Thursday, March 15, at 6:00 p.m. in the library at Memorial Middle School (615 Rollstone Street). Feel free to send me an email (address available in my profile) if you have any questions. I hope to meet many more participants next month!
Anyone who is interested in learning more about the Fitchburg NPFH® program can contact Yvette Cooks at 978-345-8664 or Mary McCaffrey at 978-345-9565.
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