My dear friends,
When I started writing this I was feeling disoriented and unsettled. It seems normal to feel this way, as these are disorienting and unsettling times.
James Baldwin said, “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it’s faced.” So let us face these unsettling times together with our eyes and hearts open. Let us choose care over cruelty. Let us choose courage over complicity. Above all, let us gather in community. If you would like to host a public or private event to empower the people in your community, I would like to help and I know a fun place to do it. Please get in touch.
I write today with an update on our 2025 fundraising. I finally emptied the donation jars for the first time since October, and including a little extra from us, the 2025 giving total from Nehalem’s pinball community came to $1,100.00. Since putting the jars out in 2021, that total comes to $6,328.25.Half of this year’s donations go to North Coast Free Food Pantries, the splendid folks who stock the little food box in front of the place, which was upgraded just this week! Please stop reading and take a moment to Venmo them a little extra at @NorthCoastFreeFoodPantries.
The remaining half goes to Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC). In PIRC’s own words, “we respond flexibly and quickly to the needs of communities facing detention and deportation through our statewide hotline. We train allied communities to support their neighbors. We show up each day to hold immigration agents accountable. And we are building an immigrant-justice community across the state of Oregon.” You can call them at 1-888-622-1510 to report a detention or an ICE sighting. Please consider donating to PIRC yourself at pircoregon.org/donate .
I think this is a one-way trip our country is on: while our destination is out of focus, there’s no going back. I want to say that—wherever you are, whatever your values—you matter. And your perspective, your perseverance, and your talents matter too.
Don’t give up ♡
North Coast Pinball