Project Lemonade

Pledge Update: August 2002

Last updated August 13, 2002

As of this month, the BAUC's Project Lemonade has raised $11,656.56 for human rights work through money pledged in response to hate group (specifically KKK) appearances in Boyertown.

Three members of the Klan appeared on the corner of Philadelphia and Reading Avenues for twenty minutes on Saturday, August 1, 2002. If you have pledged to Project Lemonade, please send your contribution to the BAUC, P.O. Box 358, New Berlinville, PA 19545. If you have yet to pledge, please download and print a pledge form and send it in with your donation.

The Anti-Defamation League has received $1954.25 in pledges.
The NAACP has received $1507.60 in pledges.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has received $2881.67 in pledges.

The BAUC itself has received the remainder of the monies pledged ($5313.04) and has begun to use these funds to teach tolerance and respect for diversity.

The Coalition donated $175 to the Green Circle Program, which is coordinated by Chris Halliday, of theReading/Berks Human Relations Council. The Green Circle Program teaches children in grades 1-3 to understand and appreciate differences among cultures.

The Coalition awarded $300 to a bus project conducted by two Boyertown elementary schools wherein the bus ride to school has become an opportunity for learning about civility and respect for others.

Project Lemonade contributed $500 to the Boyertown Public Library in the form of books and videos about multiculturalism. Here's an excerpt from a February 1998 press release:

Project Lemonade Funds Boyertown Library Materials: Black History Month Exhibit Now on Display

Boyertown, PA—-Taking a cue from turning lemons into lemonade, the Boyertown Area Unity Coalition, using pledges raised by Project Lemonade, is turning ignorance into understanding by presenting a check for $500.00 to the James K. Boyer Community Library. The library will use these funds to purchase books and videos promoting multiculturalism, nonviolence, and racial harmony. The Unity Coalition hopes that through education, the principles of its mission statement will be fulfilled: "to create and nurture a caring community climate in which respect for all persons, young and old, is cultivated and in which bigotry is rejected." With the purchase of these materials, the library will become a valuable resource to promote these beliefs. Project Lemonade is also donating money to groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NAACP, and the Anti-Defamation League. Close to 200 individuals and organizations have contributed pledges, including national Penn Bank, five local area churches, and one synagogue. In addition to substantial contributions from the Boyertown community and Berks County, pledges have been received from seven surrounding counties: Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, Lancaster, Chester, and Lehigh. Currently, the Unity Coalition and the library are showcasing a Black History Month Exhibit. If there are any future proceeds from Project Lemonade, the Boyertown Community Library would like to be able to present educational programs in conjunction with the Boyertown Area Unity Coalition.

The BAUC donated $100 to Fellowship Farm in Gilbertsville, PA.
The Coalition contributed almost $3000 toward the costs associated with the 1999 and 2000 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations sponsored by the Boyertown Area Ministerium.

The Coalition will continue to use the Project Lemonade pledges that it receives, first, to fund local, worthwhile efforts to foster the goals of its mission statement, and, second, to underwrite the continuing effort to sustain and expand the project itself. THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO AND REJECTION OF THE KKK IS GROWING!

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