Good morning, Singers! It is a busy week and I hope all of you are ready for some fun, some singing, and some help for our neighbors.

BTN is asking you to bring donations of food on Saturday to help our neighbors in Cedar Riverside.   SNAP benefits which helps feed 1 of every 8 Americans and provides on average $186 monthly for food resources will likely not arrive on Saturday. They need our help right now. Trips to the food shelf at Brian Coyle have doubled this week, anticipating not getting help from the SNAP program.
 
Please donate shelf stable items like flour, sugar, noodles, lentils, canned goods, vegetable oil, olive oil, cereal, canned tuna, canned chicken, etc. Please put them in the boxes in the front lobby.  Claudia will transport them to the Brian Coyle Center.  If you are a snow bird, and looking to clear out food while you are gone, this is perfect!
 
We will be rehearsing on Saturday, November 1st, 2:00-3:30 on the 8th floor of the Guthrie.  The focus right now is preparing for our holiday concert on December 20th.  JD and Fred are creating really gorgeous arrangements of some holiday classics.  You won't want to miss a minute. Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tis-the-season-with-be-that-neighbor-tickets-1848865389149?aff=oddtdtcreator

You are also invited to Coffee with Claudia on November 3rd at 9:30 at Mother Dough on 2nd and Park.  We at Be That Neighbor believe there is far more happening that is good, that is working, and that is building a better community.  The relentless drumbeat of all types of media serve to distract us and convince us there is no hope.  We disagree.

We believe we need more conversation, time to come together and share what is happening that builds our neighborhood and that brings joy. There is wisdom here.  People are our best resource and we want to tap into that and present a venue where we can come together to talk with each other.

Claudia Kittock is co-founder and Executive Director of Be That Neighbor.  She has connections throughout our amazing city and will lead a discussion about the good things happening in our city.

On the first Monday of each month, we will sponsor “Coffee with Claudia” meeting at different coffee shops throughout our community. There will be no discussion of politics, no discussion of the problems we face, rather we are asking people to come to talk about and listen to our neighbors tell us what is working. Why do this?  It’s too easy to forget that neighbors still look out for each other, that small efforts matter, and that joy is part of community life. 

See you on Saturday, and hopefully, Monday!