NAMI Scott County invites you to ROCK & ROAR at our HALLOWEEN COSTUME BALL & BASH on Saturday, October 31st from 7-10pm in the Palmer Student Union Hall located on 1000 Brady St, in Davenport. We’ll be featuring the talents of VJ Mary Beth of Karaoke Quad Cities!

There is Free Food & Drink, Prizes for best costume & best karaoke performance… plus other raffles!

Some of the in-kind donations we have received so far include gift certificates for area restaurants, the QC Symphony, the QC Ballet, The Institute of Massage, HyVee, American Laser ($150 value), Isabel Bloom and many others!

If you are willing to make an in-kind donation for our raffle, we will be thanking all of our sponsors in our press release and the evening of our event as local media will also be in attendance. Please call Caroline at the NAMI office 563-322-8870 if you would like to contribute.

Tickets are only $5 – All proceeds will go to support the ongoing work of NAMI Scott County within our community. At a time when Iowa is expected to see close to a million dollar shortfall in state funds for Scott County, the ongoing work of NAMI Scott County is essential to ensure we are able to continue to support the needs of consumers of mental health services and their families.

This fundraiser dance is guaranteed to be a blast – don’t forget to wear a costume!

Friends, the largest protest during the Showdown in Chicago will be on Tuesday, October 27th, 10:30 a.m. The march begins at Wacker and Stetson and then a rally at the Sheraton on 301 E. North Water Street. It’s time to hold the Big Banks accountable. They need to fix what they broke!

With reckless behavior and unchecked greed, big banks caused the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. We were told we had to bail the big banks out so they would start putting money back into our communities – and our jobs and our homes would be saved.

Well, for every man, woman, and child in the United States, ordinary Americans gave the big banks $15,000. But WallStreet NEVER held up their end of the bargain. The financial giants have bounced back, but they have done nothing to fix the overall economy that they crashed!

The big banks and the politicians need to hear us loud and clear.

Some of us from the QC want to drive up Tuesday a.m., leaving around 6am and returning home later that day. If you would like to go, please call the PACG cell: 563-676-7580.

Saturday, October 17th, from coast to coast, over two dozen cities will host events calling for an end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are proud to say that our PACG Saturday Peace Rally in Moline is among them.

October 8th marked 8 years of war in Afghanistan and seven years since Congress passed the “Iraq War Resolution.”  We have lost over 4,000 of our brave young people and wounded 30,000 more, many seriously.  It is time to end both wars and bring our troops home.

Our focus will be on the monetary cost of the wars, especially in light of the pending fight for health care reform.  We could pay for health care for all Americans for what the wars are costing us. Our elected representatives need to take a stand! And so must YOU! We will have extra signs, or you may bring your own.  Please join us from 11am to noon on the Ashley Furniture corner of John Deere Road and 16th Street, Moline. This is where we gather weekly to call for an end to the wars that continue to cost our nation so much.

For more information, contact info@october17.org, or ibcaryn@yahoo.com, or kriss444@aol.com. We look forward to seeing you there!

Annual Social and Economic Justice Lecture and Film Series presented by Ambrose Women for Social Justice on Tuesday, Oct. 13th in the Rogalski Center on the St. Ambrose University campus.

First, a film at 1:30 p.m. that is a compelling documentary by award-winning director Hannah Weyer. She personalizes the challenges faced by students enrolled in migrant education programs in the US.

Then, at 7:30 p.m. the KEYNOTE LECTURE: “Go After the Women”: The ‘Mothers Against Illegal Aliens’ Campaign’ Against Mexican Immigrant Women and their Children” presented by writer, activist, scholar and professor Dr. Mary Romero. She addresses racism towards Mexican immigrant women as they struggle to educate their children while obtaining employment.

For more infor INFO, contact Katy Strzepek, 563/333-6113 – A Spanish speaking interpreter will be available.

People with disabilities who need assistance should contact 333-6113.

This series is part of St. Ambrose University’s Migration Project, created to examine the many ways in which movements of people, ideas and materials have shaped the modern world. For more information about this event and the entire Migration Project schedule, visit www.sau.edu/migrationproject.

The delegates at September’s Quad City Federation of Labor’s monthly meeting voted to hold a rally on behalf of health care reform in from of Senator Grassley’s office. Please join our union brothers and sisters along with members of our greater community:

Public Support for a Public Option on Tuesday, October 6th from 4:30 to 5:30 pm. (picket begins at 4:30, speakers at 5)

The speakers will represent a wide variety of our community. Union members will talk about the effects of increased premiums and the loss of health care due to plant closures and layoffs. Clergy will speak to the moral obligations of health care reform. And medical professionals will talk about how the health care crisis is affecting their work as caregivers.

This is intended to be a peaceful informational picket displaying our community’s support for a robust public option. The decision to hold it in front of Senator Grassley’s office is to communicate to our only local congressperson opposed to the public option.

For more information, please contact the QCFL: 563-324-9414. www.quadcityfed.com

Quad Cities Interfaith invites you to the Health Care Truths & Myths: A Faith Community Exploration on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at the Church of Peace, UCC – 1114 12th Street in Rock Island.

At this event, local clergy members will consider the proposed legislation in Congress to reform our nation’s health care system. The panel will address the most common issues of debate and address the moral issues at hand.

Panel members include Rabbi Henry Karp Temple Emanuel, Dr. Alta Price, PACG, Rev. Ron Stewart, Broadway Presbyterian, Rev. Michael Swartz, Church of Peace, UCC, Rev. Becky David of Genesis Health Systems and Dr. Lisa Zaynab Killinger, Outreach Coordinator, Muslim Community.

This event is open to the public and is free of charge.

A conference for Community Organizers & Activists is going to be held in Chicago on October 3rd, 2009. These Activists have had successes resulting from their Community Actions and I’m certain the opportunity to brainstorm would be of great value to all who attend.

http://wesayfightback.com/wordpress/

Thanks, Everyone!