WHAT'S HAPPENING INDEX

NOW - through May 22
** [more] Donations sought for Silent Auction at the WHRTF 7th annual Human Rights Awards. Banquet to be held May 22nd.

May 1, Thursday 5:30-8:30pm
** "Breaking Bread and Building Bridges"- 2nd annual May Day Community Potluck held at the Lummi Reservation [more]

May 10, Saturday 9 am to 12:30
**[more]Training for Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce Volunteers

May 22, Thursday, 5:30 - 9pm
** [more] 7th Annual WHRTF Human Rights Awards Banquet.

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DONATIONS AND VOLUNTEER ASSISTANCE NEEDED
FOR WHRTF HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS BANQUET
Now through May 22nd
Awards Ceremony scheduled for May 22nd [see below]

SILENT AUCTION DONATIONS AND VOLUNTEER HELP
Most importantly, we need donations! Please use the contact info below to let us know is we can pick up silent auction donations.
Volunteers are needed to:
• help with follow up calls to businesses
• picking up donations
• getting them ready for display on the day of the auction.
CONTACT INFO: Human Rights office 733-2233
or email Berns at Bportervint@attbi.com

THE AWARDS BANQUET VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Now - Help with mailings
Now - Distribution of posters for the event
May 21 and 22 - Set up for the banquet
May 22 - Clean up committee
If you would like to help in this capacity, please call the Human Rights office 733-2233.

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The Second Annual May Day Community Potluck Dinner
"Breaking Bread and Building Bridges"
Thursday, May 1, 2003 - 5:30pm - 8:30pm "Breaking Bread and Building Bridges" is presented by the Lummi Nation and the Ferndale Diversity Coalition at the Wex li em Community Center on the Lummi ReservationPlease bring a favorite main dish, salad, or dessert to share. Beverages and dinnerware will be provided. We will be enjoying food, friendship, cultural sharing and games together!This event will include a variety of performers- representing the Coast Salish tradition as well as latino dancers, Scottish country dancers, hip-hop, a violin performance and an eagle from Sardis Wildlife Center. Jewell James will be carving in preparation for the second Healing Pole. Be sure to let your friends and students know about this enriching opportunity!

This event is supported by the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, British Petroleum, Cost Cutter Foods, and by a grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation.

If you have any questions, please call (360) 380-1005.
Location: Wex li em Community Center on the Lummi Reservation
Directions: From Interstate-5, take exit 260 (Slater Road) and follow the signs to the Lummi Island Ferry. Travel approximately a mile past the ferry terminal. The two carved "Frog Poles" on your left mark the entrance to the facility. The Stommish Grounds will be on your right.

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Training for Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce Volunteers
Saturday, May 10, 20039 am to 12:30 pm
Whatcom Civil Rights Project presents
Training for New Volunteers
    9 am  - Introduction to the Whatcom Civil Rights Project
    10 am - Mock intake interview
Training for New and Experienced Volunteers
    11:30 am - Resources available in Whatcom County
For more information call WHRTF @ 733-2233 or email whrtf@whrtf.org
LOCATION: Classroom 314, Fairhaven College - Western Washington University

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Keynote speaker: Northwest Indian College President, Cheryl Crazy Bull.

The 2003 Human Rights Awards honor three this year.

• Jewell Praying Wolf James. The master carver for "America's Healing Pole" project, James (Ceremonial Name: Se-Sealth, a lineal descendent of Chief Seattle) has decades of involvement in local, national, and international efforts to preserve the natural environment and improve understanding between cultures. James was one of the eight founders of the National Tribal Environmental Council, and served as the original chairman of the Florence R. Kluckhohn Center for the Study of Values. He was active in national efforts to secure passage of US Senate and House resolutions that recognize the Iroquois and Choctaw Confederacies of Nations as models for the US Constitution.

James has served the Lummi People in many roles, including coordinating the Lummi Treaty Protection Task Force; organizing the development of the Lummi Culture Protection Department; helping to secure funds to purchase and protect several sites including Portage Island and Arlecho Creek Old Growth Forest. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Moon's Prayer Foundation and as President of the House of Tears Carvers. A Northwest Coast Spirit Dancer and Indian Cedar Prayer Flute player, James is a life long resident of Lummi Reservation, where he lives with his wife and three children.

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• Terry Bornemann. Bornemann's political roots grew out of the labor movement and the Viet Nam War. When he got out of the Army after serving for 13 months in Viet Nam, he joined the Viet Nam Veterans Against the War. After college, he was employed in rural northern Michigan for the Michigan Commission for the Blind, and worked actively for the passage of the Americans with Disability Act.

Since moving to Bellingham in the early 1980's, Bornemann has served in a number of leadership positions in the Democratic Party, including Chair of the Whatcom County Democrats. He is a charter member of the Whatcom County Rainbow Coalition and the Northwest Washington chapter of the NAACP, and has been a member of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force since its early years. When the political right was attempting to organize a state wide anti-gay initiative, he helped organize the Hands-Off Washington Campaign in Bellingham. He has been a long time neighborhood activist and has helped plan the annual Martin Luther King Celebration at City Hall. As a member and current president of the Bellingham City Council, he has consistently taken a leadership role on social justice and civil rights issues. He lives in Bellingham with his wife of 25 years, Jennifer Richmond, and their two children.

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• The Whatcom Civil Rights Project (WCRP). The Whatcom Civil Rights Project was founded in the fall of 2001 on the initiative of Bellingham attorney Breean Beggs, who has played a leadership role in many local civil rights endeavors, including the Street Law program in Bellingham and the Northwest Justice Center. The WCRP is a joint collaboration of the Law and Diversity Program of Fairhaven College at Western Washington University, LAW Advocates, and the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, that provides free legal assistance and advocacy to victims of discrimination and civil rights abuse in Whatcom County.

Julie Helling, J.D., has been the director of the Law and Diversity Program (LDP) since 2000, and has worked closely with Beggs to implement the WCRP. Trained LDP students conduct intake interviews for the WCRP, in conjunction with volunteers from the Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce. After the intake interview, the students prepare a concise summary of relevant facts that identifies possible legal claims for LAW Advocates attorneys on the Attorney Case Assessment Panel. As the project develops, LDP students will continue working with an attorney on a case through the entire litigation process.

The Banquet will be catered this year by Assefe Kebede featuring Ethiopian dishes. You may know of him because he teaches classes at the co-op on African cuisine. Asefe has a resturant in Vancouver called Nyala African Cuisine.

And don't forget the Silent Auction!!! Last year there were wonderful things available.

You can pick up Advance Tickets at:
• Village Books, in Fairhaven, 1210 Eleventh Street, Bellingham WA 98225, (360) 671-2626
• Food Coop, 1220 N Forest, Bellingham, WA 98225, (360) 734-8158
• Ready to Eat Restaurant on Main Street in Ferndale (360) 312-1294
• WHRTF Office, Bay Street Village, Bellingham, WA 98225, (360) 733-2233

Free childcare will be available on site.

INFORMATION: (360) 733-2233
COST: $12 in advance, $15.00 at the door
LOCATION: Faith Lutheran Church, 2750 McLeod Road, Bellingham (off Northwest Avenue by the freeway)

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