Hurricane Irma Relief Kitchen

Hi all,

Hear rumor that the kitchen in Florida should be getting set up Monday or Tuesday (Sept 18 or 19)  Once I have details I will share what the team wants shared.

Much love,
Karin

Rainbow Spirit Video

This video was originally made after the 1997 annual 4th of July gathering.  It was not filmed at the gathering, but is a great resource from some of the songs you will hear played around a campfire at a gathering. 

Altruist Relief Feed Texans - the Video

Hurricane Irma Rainbow Teams

Hi folks,

Just an FYI to let you know that a number of crews are gearing up to help in Florida once Hurricane Irma passes through.  I will update this page once I have details and locations on how to plug in.

Mama Earth is angry. Please listen to her.

Respect (Part 1 of 5 of "Creating Peace")

The gathering of the tribes is dedicated to creating peace on earth and the positive evolution of the planet. Sometimes peace seems so hard to attain, it can be helpful to focus on strategies that create opportunities for peace.  Today's concept is "Respect."

From the beginning, the gathering included concepts of respect. The invite to the first gathering in 1972 started off:

We, who are brothers & sisters, children of God, families of life on earth, friends of nature & of all people, children of humankind calling ourselves Rainbow Family Tribe, humbly invite:
All races, peoples, tribes, communes, men, women, children, individuals -- out of love.
All nations & national leaders -- out of respect
All religions & religious leaders -- out of faith

 If I were authoring the invite today, I would modify it to:
All races, peoples, tribes, communes, men, women, children, individuals -- out of respect and love.

So how then does respect contribute to creating peace?

Peace needs nurturing and dialog to plant its roots and grow.  Peace needs food and water.  If we do not respect the needs of peace and honor those needs, we are doomed to failure.  So how then do we go about creating respect at our gatherings?

When we gather, we are a community with a diversity of backgrounds, religious beliefs, political affiliations, interests, hopes and dreams. Honor that diversity in each of us -- our differences are what make us capable and interesting. Our connections are what make us strong.


The following ideas are commonly shared ideas, I didn't invent them, but I find it helpful to be reminded of them.


Respect is one of the core values in our attempts to create an egalitarian culture. By approaching my family with respect I am laying the roots for a relationship. By treating people the way they wish to be treated, I can connect with others. If I offer respect to another person, that person is more likely to offer respect to me and to others. People who are treated with respect, learn how to treat others with respect.

We are all part of this big, wonderful planet called earth and hence we are all connected. Rather than trying to severe these connections, let's strengthen them. In 1994 at the Wyoming annual gathering, a forest fire occurred at the edge of the gathering up on a ridge. We formed a human bucket line from the creek at the bottom of the meadow to the ridge. None of us could have individually carried enough water up that hill quickly enough to put out that fire. But standing shoulder to shoulder and passing buckets hand to hand, we connected water and fire and extinguished the flames.


Separate issues from people in a respectful manner. When someone is engaging in non-respectful behavior, respect the person enough to explain why the behavior is creating an issue that needs to be addressed.  And always focus on the behavior that is the issue.

Acknowledge the emotions behind the inappropriate behavior and ask the person if they could refrain from the behavior and share their feelings with us instead. We all do this with our children when we refrain from saying "you're bad" and instead say "you made a poor choice"  or "please use your words to tell your brother why you are upset instead of hitting him."  Why can't we use this same method with adults?  Especially those of us who are children in the bodies of adults.

As the early gatherers (or earlies as they are more commonly known) wrote a long time ago "we are all of us children" as we are just now learning how to live with each other.  Be patient. Some of us learn more quickly and some of us learn less quickly. We all started from different places so we all have different journeys ahead of us. Let's be fellow travelers on this uncharted sea.

Everyone has an opinion and their opinion is no better nor worse than my opinion or your opinion. When we create space for people to freely share their thoughts without fear or judgement, we are creating a space where we respect each other.

Listen. We show our respect to others by listening to what they have to say. We not only listen with our ears, but our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our hands.  When people feel heard, they feel respected. When they feel respected, they are more likely to respect others.

Respect is an important starting point for creating peace.

Hurricane Harvey Rainbow Teams

Updated 7:45 PM 9/10/17 Cali Time
Hi all,

As promised, here is additional information on what and who is on site and feeding people.

FFRE

Family of Friends Relief Effort (FFRE) Hurricane Harvey 2017 is looking for volunteers. First read the Volunteer Info Sheet. If this sounds like something you are interested in plugging into, fill out the F.F.R.E Hurricane Harvey Volunteer Application.

If you would like to donate dollars, click here and select "FFRE Kitchens."
 
They are located on the Houston/ Pasadena border! They are set up and feeding!!👍. Working along side the Cajun Army at there HQ. We are feeding them and local communities as well. the Cajun Army is delivering Organic Valley food we cooked as they work in local areas! As well as Perfect connection!!
Landing a spot has grass and secure. Crucial location.
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS PLEASE PLEASE!!
Many Parts of Texas still have long way to go with recovery efforts.
Please visit www.unitedpeacerelief.org for information on F.F.R.E and our volunteer and donation links.
One Love!!

Altruist Relief

This is an off-shoot of Shining Light Kitchen. Folks are on-the-ground in Texas and feeding.  If you want to get plugged into their efforts and volunteer, email them. If you would like to donate dollars, click here.

Front Gate Kitchen

The kitchen known as "Front Gate Kitchen" (not to be confused with the front gate function) is on the ground and feeding people. They are at 10967 River Oaks Dr, Conroe, TX 77385.

Misc. Rainbow Kitchen

My apologies but I don't know what this kitchen is called. They have put out a call for volunteers to help prep, cook, and clean at our kitchen at 6105 Allendale Re. Houston.

Non-Rainbow Related Information

For general info on the situation, click here.

Misc. Info for people impacted by the flooding or those looking to see what is going on./

Confessions of a Rainbow Newbie

A lot of people who have never been to a gathering before have trepidation about what it's like. This great video talks about a woman's first trip to a gathering and what a culture shock it was.  For those of you who are long time gatherers, this is really funny. For those who are thinking of coming home for the first time, it's a great perspective from a newbie who approached the gathering with positive intention, love in her heart, and who found her own way to gather.

Enjoy!