Dear Ones,

We’ve all learned a lot since March. We have learned that our communities can do things we never thought were possible. We’ve learned that we have capacities to care for one another, to use new technologies, to make music in new ways, and that connection can take many forms. WES members have been creative and resilient, and I hope you are proud of that. 

The lay leaders and staff have adapted, and have come up with some great ideas that will sustain WES throughout this unusual year, and could bring bold new ideas for the future beyond 2021. Some of these ideas have brought unexpected costs, while the COVID-19 virus has also complicated WES’s ability to bring in income. While WES’s budget is in fairly good shape, the uncertainties in the year ahead and the chance to imagine an inclusive, welcoming future for WES has led us to an opportunity for generosity. I am writing to invite you to be part of the Connect Campaign, a fundraising campaign that will add resources to the general operating budget as we adapt and flourish into a reshaped future. 

There are four goals for the Connect Campaign:

1. Support virtual music, which helps us to remember WES’s traditions as well as try out new things, keeping the Chorus connected and reminding us of the faces and talents of our singers and musicians. 
2. Keep us connected electronically, with investment in Zoom and other online tools, plus the staff time needed to support volunteers in using those tools. Our enhanced online capabilities has made it possible to welcome everyone to online Platform who wishes to attend, to make recordings available for later viewing on Facebook, and to manage signups for a variety of online and socially distant events. 
3. Re-imagine a return to in-person operations that also includes continuing online options for those who need them. Those who have moved away, those with mobility or transportation challenges, those with caregiving responsibilities, and those who don’t live near an Ethical Culture community all depend on on-line operations as a way of connecting with those who share their values and as a way of continuing their ethical journeys. 
4. Upgrade the building and our care of the building to reduce the risk of virus transmission when we begin our return to in-person operations. This may involve changes or increased maintenance for the heating and air conditioning system, physical barriers in places where masks are not enough, and enhanced attention to cleaning and sanitizing. 

Coordinating virtual music and putting together virtual Chorus is almost like science fiction. We continue to be surprised and delighted by what our singers and musicians can do. WES is extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity to work with Lea Morris this year as our Interim Music Coordinator. WES members already knew that Lea’s talents as a singer, musician, and song leader are extraordinary. Now we know she is also a talented music and video editor, and someone who can draw out the best in our virtual Chorus. The staff time and resources necessary to maintain a music program virtually are more than we estimated back in the spring, yet we are finding that these resources are invaluable for our sense of community. 

During these last six months of online operations, we have appreciated more than ever the staff time and technologies that have helped us to stay connected. We receive blog posts every Tuesday, and News & Notes every Thursday. There are online signups whenever we need them, easy-to-remember links for meetings, and plenty of tech support to get our Deepening Circles, teams, and support groups going on Zoom. All of these things required software, internet service, and staff time that we did not anticipate as we drafted the original budget. Your gift to the Connect Campaign will help us to maintain this heightened level of electronic communication. 

Because we had to try new things to adapt to social distancing, we have learned that WES can be an inclusive lifeline to people who aren’t able to participate when operations are exclusively in person. We don’t want to lose that inclusivity. WES (in the post-Corona future) could incorporate both in-person gatherings and also online classes, book groups, deepening circles, and other opportunities that welcome people from a distance, or who have transportation issues, or who have disabilities that make it difficult for them to get around. Platforms could be re-imagined to keep the head and heart connections that members value so much, with people in the room who can be there, in a hybrid format that makes the at-home experience warm and participatory.

That vision of extending WES beyond the walls on 16th street, making a home for humanists and Ethical Culturists wherever they find themselves in the world, is a good fit with WES’s drive to be inclusive in terms of race, class, gender, and orientation. The WES of the future could be more welcoming than ever. And that will take investment of money, time, and volunteer effort.

We don’t yet know what we need to make the building as safe as possible for our return. We might consider air purifiers, no-touch technology for some of our frequently used surfaces, and plexiglass shields around the podium and other areas where masks might not be enough. It would be helpful to be able to plan a return to the building knowing we have the resources to do it right. 

For all of these reasons and more, I hope you will join me in supporting the Connect Campaign. Your gift will go into the unrestricted operating fund to help WES to make lemonade out of the lemons of this virus, to adapt and connect with creativity and zeal, and to re-imagine a future for WES that is even more inclusive than we thought possible. 

Thanks for all you do for WES. See you (online) soon!

Take care,

-Lyn