Actions for the Week of 9/7/25

Written By Darbie Maccubbin

How to contact your elected officials

Use this link to find contact information for ALL of your elected officials – Federal, State, City, and County – just by entering your address: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Other useful links:

Buffalo and WNY residents: Volunteer to help immigrants and marginalized Buffalo residents start a small food business!

For the second year in a row, Our City Buffalo is partnering with Justice for Migrant Families (JFMF), Cooperation Buffalo, and Pilgrim-St.Luke's UCC to run a small food business program for immigrants and other marginalized Buffalonians. The program consists of 3 workshops which will be held on September 24th, October 22nd, and November 12th from 6-8 pm at Pilgrim-St. Luke’s UCC. There will also be a food event put on by the participants of the program in early December. 

The program starts in less than three weeks and given the current political moment, JFMF's capacity has been greatly reduced. Therefore, Our City Buffalo and its partners are stepping up to cover more of the administrative tasks and various roles. 

Below is a list of volunteer roles that are needed.  NOTE: You do NOT have to volunteer for all workshops and the food event in order to participate. 

If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information, please send an email to: ourcitybuffalo@gmail.com

Transportation coordinator: must be bilingual (Spanish and English). This person will make sure everyone gets to and from the program safely.

Food shopping: you would purchase food either the night before and/or the day of the workshop to give to participants of the program to take home.

Dinner: the program includes dinner. This person coordinates with the pickup or delivery of the food. 

Childcare assistant: this person would work with the 2 childcare leads to provide a safe place for children to be during the workshops. Older children will prepare food in the kitchen with one of the leads and the other one would assist upstairs in a play area. 

Car seats: are needed for this program and other JFMF programming. This person coordinates donations and promotes the need for car seats. 

Tell the Smithsonian: Reject demands to whitewash history

From Indivisible.org

“Seven Smithsonian museums are facing threats to have federal funding terminated unless they whitewash their exhibits and follow Trump’s directive to focus less on “how bad slavery was” and more about “the future.” Yes, Trump has said history museums need to focus more on the future.

Now, displays about slavery, civil rights, and the oppression of Black, Brown, and Indigenous Americans will be censored or outright eliminated if the Smithsonian board caves to Trump’s demands. Indivisible’s BIPOC Caucus is calling on the Smithsonian’s leadership to stand strong against this authoritarian overreach.”

Follow this link to read and sign Indivisible’s letter to the Smithsonian Board of Regents: https://act.indivisible.org/sign/smithsonian

Phonebanking

Choose your own outrage with 5 Calls

5 Calls has been around since the first Trump term and offers a quick and easy way to make calls to your elected representatives. Enter your zip code or address and pick a topic. Then choose the representative you want to call, make the call, and read the script provided. Calling your congressperson is the most effective way to influence policy. Please check it out here: https://5calls.org/  

Darbie Maccubbin
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Actions for the Week of 8/31/25