Food Pantry: JUUF and congregation Sukkot Shalom co-sponsor a food pantry at the Jewish Temple every Saturday morning. Each week the pantry is staffed by two people, one from each congregation. The staff are there from 9-11am. The pantry is open from 9:30 to 11am. You can also participate by “shopping” at the Southeast Alaska Food Bank (https://www.sealaskafoodbank.org/) and dropping off the food at the Temple on a Wednesday or Thursday. For more information or to volunteer for the Food Pantry contact JUUFdrive@gmail.com.

Family Promise: (https://www.familypromisejuneau.org/) Family Promise provides hospitality for families experiencing homelessness. What does this look like for our JUUF commitment?  We are responsible for providing meals and volunteers who stay overnight with the families at various churches in the community for 4 weeks out of the year, one week each quarter.

JUUF members and friends provide and share dinner with the families for our week of service. We clean up after dinner and play games with the children, or read with them, or help with homework, or whatever the families would like until it is lights out. We aren’t babysitters, the parents must be with their children at all times. We stay with the families overnight and make sure they are up and ready to be picked up in the morning to go to the day center, school, and work.

For more information or to volunteer for Family Promise contact JUUFdrive@gmail.com.

Glory Hall Dinners: (https://housejuneau.org/) JUUF members cook and serve a meal at the Glory Hall once per quarter whenever there is a fifth Wednesday of the month. Four people are needed each time. One person shops for ingredients earlier on the day of the meal (could be a fifth person but is normally one of the four) and can be reimbursed. We arrive at the Glory Hall (8715 Teal St.) at 4pm, dinner is served at 6, and done at 6:30. No clean-up is involved. This coming year’s dates are: Nov 29, Jan 31, May 29 and July 31. For more information or to volunteer with Glory Hall Dinners contact JUUFdrive@gmail.com.

AWARE: https://awareak.org/our-mission/ At Christmas: JUUF “adopts” a family in early December to provide gifts and a holiday meal. We are given a wish list which is circulated through the fellowship. Then, once we have gathered gifts, we have a “wrapping party” and someone buys the holiday dinner and drops everything off at the specified location. Volunteer opportunities: 1) donate a gift (gifts) from the list; 2) come help wrap; 3) transport gifts (from folks who need their gifts picked up). 

For more information or to volunteer for our AWARE family Christmas contact JUUFdrive@gmail.com.

Whale Coast: For many years, another UU church has curated a mid-summer tour called “WhaleCoast” for curious travelers who want to get to know Alaska. This 10-day tour, which starts in Fairbanks and ends in Juneau, includes opportunities for Alaska UU churches to earn revenue while they get to know these intrepid travelers. Roughly 40 guests spend 2-3 nights in Juneau; those who aren’t offered a home stay instead stay in hotels, where JUUF provides continental breakfasts. During their stay, guests visit the glacier, go up the tram, take a day boat to Tracy Arm, and get a little time to wander through Juneau’s downtown. JUUF also offers a potluck-style dinner at the Temple during the travelers’ final night of the tour, when all locals are welcome to join to get to know the guests. The Juneau UU Fellowship’s Development Fund has grown significantly with proceeds from WhaleCoast tours, and it is an easy way for members to contribute time and talent, with tasks ranging from cooking for and set-up/clean-up of the potluck, shopping for and hosting of the hotel breakfasts, hosting visitors overnight (some restrictions apply), and providing transportation as needed.