Our last 2025/26 delivery of food supporting weekend meals for students at risk has been completed. Congratulations and thanks to all who have been part of the Totes to Go effort at WUUC! We have partnered with Maywood Hills Elementary School for over 15 years, helping kids arrive at school on Monday mornings ready to learn. From small beginnings, we’ve increased to support 15 students who are likely to miss meals on weekends. We’ve made a big difference!
The WUUC Totes program depends on our generosity, especially the contributions of our “scheduled donors” who’ve signed up to bring certain items every month. Special thanks to those folks!! Thanks also to those who step up to fill in the gaps at the end of the month.
Totes is now on vacation until August. We encourage you to donate to the Maltby Food Bank. Our WUUC coordinator is Susan McBain. The Northshore Schools Foundation, which has a program that provides food support during the summer, also welcomes donations. Tevina Flood can provide more information about them. Many thanks for all your support of WUUC’s Totes to Go program! As coordinators, we depend on your participation! Questions or concerns? Contact Grace Simons or John Hartman.
Everyone should have their own kit (some supplies are for the group). Encourage kids to make their own kits, too, because what’s important to them, may not be as important to you. In the event of fire or rapid evacuation, you’ll appreciate having more than just the clothes on your back.
How to Store an Evacuation Kit
1. You should take proactive steps to create a kit that you can take with you in times of an emergency that will last you for two to three days as long as it’s light weight and easy to carry or tow along.
2. Store these items in something that is portable and easily carried, like a backpack or tub/suitcase with wheels. Place items in plastic bags to protect against water. Plastic bags used for produce (like apples and oranges in a grocery store) could be a good choice. These can later be used for disposing of waste.
Water For this grab and go kit, keep a supply of water that will last you 2-3 days for each person in your household. Only pack drinking water, ~ 1 quart per person per day.
Food Store a supply of food that will last you two to three days. Select foods that require no refrigeration or cooking, and little or no water. Purchase foods you like so it will be easy to rotate items near expiration and consider specific dietary needs as well as chemical/food sensitivity:
• High energy foods — peanut butter, granola bars, trail mix;
• Comfort foods — cookies, hard candy, etc.;
• Dry meats like beef sticks and jerky.
Pet Grab and Go Pets need a grab and go kit, too! Have two to three days of food, water, any of their medications, leashes and cages if reasonable. The full document is is here page 8 of https://mil.wa.gov/asset/5f171cc0a935f
Lori McConnell, John Hartman, Donna Johnson, Leslie Morton, Pam Green, Hudson Lyman, Cora Goss-GrubbsLori McConnell, John Hartman, Donna Johnson, Leslie Morton, Pam Green, Hudson Lyman, Cora Goss-Grubbs
Soon you will see some very sharply dressed folks (see above) walking around the church wearing green vests. These are Trash Talkers – also known as members of WUUC’s Recycling Task Force. You can be a sharply dressed Trash Talker too!
What do we do?
We’re reducing the amount of WUUC’s trash that goes to landfills- thus making the earth a better place to live.
How do we do it?
By helping folks get trash where it belongs. So stuff that can be Recycled, Composted and Re-purposed stays out of the landfill.
What do Trash Talkers do?
If you have questions about where a piece of trash belongs, ask a Trash Talker. Hey, we know the waste management world of “what goes where” can be confusing but we’re here to help. Ask a Trash Talker!
We welcomed multiple new members to our church in November 2025. The December 2025 and January 2026 newsletters will both feature bios from our new members so our community can read and welcome these wonderful people to WUUC. This newsletter will feature bios from Quentin, Marie and Ezri Quiñones-Rezin, Eli Taylor and Lily Jones, Christine Deppe, and Kristina Gray. The December Newsletter featured bios from Barbara and Skip Tripp, Tony and Marie Porter, Kristina Schmidt, and Howard Voland.
Quentin, Marie, and Ezri Quiñones-Rezin
Marie is a high school English teacher who grew up in Southern California. Quentin spent his early years in Wisconsin and his teens in Arkansas, before moving to California to pursue his dream of a career making video games. They met online in their twenties and have been married for 11 years. In 2017, tired of the hot and dry summers of Southern California, they decided to move to the Pacific Northwest and start a family. Today, they live in the Maltby area with their 6-year-old daughter, Ezri (who loves to read and play with friends), and two cats. They were looking for a community that shares their values, and were delighted to find one as welcoming as WUUC so close to home.
Eli Taylor and Lily Jones
Eli grew up nearby in Lynnwood, Washington. He now lives in Snohomish with his spouse, his daughter Lily, and their dog Betty. Eli and Lily first came to WUUC in the summer of 2024, looking for a safe and supportive spiritual community for Lily to grow up in. We were warmly welcomed, and Lily immediately asked if we could keep coming back. Eli keeps busy working as a data analyst, attending online courses for a doctorate in data science, and also working part-time as a registered nurse. He enjoys nature and gardening, reading, board games and video games, and anything science-fiction related. As a family we also enjoy learning taekwondo together.
Christine Deppe
Christine Deppe grew up in Munich, Germany, worked in Advertising, New Media, TV and Online Retail before moving to Seattle in 2004, where she raised her kids Tim (19) and Sarah (17) with her husband, worked in non-profit accounting and joined the West Seattle UU with her family 10 years ago. She co-funded a Coworking space, a PTA, a Tech Startup and the West Seattle Bee Garden, an educational apiary. As a Master Forest Steward for Seattle Parks and a Climate Action Families activist she has planted and protected over 5,000 native plants and trees.
In 2020 she moved to Duvall to learn how to build community and live in the woods with 30 fellow nature lovers. After this transformative experience she built a tiny house village, where she keeps rabbits, chickens and ducks, studies farming and psychology, and spends most of her time outside homesteading with her partner Jeff. She joined the WUUC email list in 2020, Sister and Supper Circles in 24, the Campout, the Starting Point and Meditation group and Sunday services online this year. She is excited to be part of this accepting community with a deep regard for intellectual freedom and inclusive love.
Kristina Gray
Kristina Gray (Kris) is a mechanical engineer from Oregon State. Recruited by Boeing while in her junior year, she’s been working there for almost twenty years now.
Kris has an enthusiasm for life and getting to know people, and is interested in a variety of things…favorites included hiking/camping with friends, Jazz Alley concerts, vegetable gardening, writing and gaming. She’s recently taken up oil painting and usually has a few different knitting/crocheting and building/craft/technical projects in work at any given time.
Kris is grateful for all of the warm and welcoming folks at WUUC, and is excited to contribute where she can. Thank you for welcoming her into the fold of this vibrant and supportive community!
Minister’s Discretionary Fund, also called the Helping Hands Fund.
The offering is traditionally given and received during the Christmas Eve Service.
Recognizing the need for confidentiality around pastoral care, the minister will keep a record of all disbursements from the Fund which will be annually reviewed by the Treasurer.
Anyone seeking assistance from the Fund may make their request by contacting the minister in person or in writing. The minister will decide how much assistance (if any) will be given from the Fund,
The Treasurer of the Board will conduct an annual review of all expenditures to assure that they furthered WUUC’s mission and were consistent with WUUC’s tax exempt purposes.To view the full policy:Minister’s Discretionary Fund Policy 2025.09.17.pdf
