Open minds, open hearts, open house

Indianapolis Peace House residents, who are making contributions to Indianapolis’ culture this summer at various peace-building organizations, will host an open house Wednesday, July 30.

According to resident Ben Leslie, a Butler student from the Chicago area, the 13 students hold internships with Big Car Gallery, Provocate and Exodus Refugee Immigration, to name a few. They are eager to meet more people from the city they’ve been serving, and they hope the open house brings community members together.

“Part of the motivation for this comes from wanting to see people in Indianapolis cross neighborhood boundaries,” Leslie says.

Indianapolis Peace House is located at 1421 Central Ave., and the festivities start at 5 p.m. More information: peacehouse.info.gmail.com.

Get your rock star on

Whether you are a karaoke pro or a closet Guitar Hero, Craig Holloway wants to introduce you to the Karaoke Dokies. The Chicago band will appear at the Vogue Thursday, July, 31, in a benefit for the Julian Center.

Holloway says singing with a live band as backup allows people to unleash their inner rock star in a way classic karaoke does not. “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it, but live band karaoke is hilarious,” he says. “People in Indianapolis sometimes say there’s not a lot to do, and this is something different. Also, you don’t have to sing, you can just come and hang out and watch, and maybe one of your friends will sing.”

The top three “rock stars” will win prizes donated by the Simon Group.

A $10 donation will get you in the door. All proceeds benefit the Julian Center: www.juliancenter.org.

Global Gifts marks two decades of fair trade

Twenty years after first opening a storefront, Global Gifts is booming. The volunteer-supported fair trade store will celebrate the milestone with a 20th anniversary bag sale this weekend, Aug. 1 and 2.

Global Gifts does nearly $800,000 in sales each year while ensuring producers are paid a fair price for their labor, according to General Manager Sam Carpenter. Carpenter attributes the store’s success in part to a growing awareness and appreciation of fair trade. “A lot of people are seeking it out,” he says. “They want to support [the store], because they like the idea that they can shop consistent with their values.”

He calls shopping Global Gifts a unique experience because of the international flavor of the shop, which stocks handcrafted items from 35 countries. “[Customers] can find lots of cool unique items, and they also resonate with the mission.”

Customers aren’t the only ones who keep coming back: Many of the volunteers have been involved since the store’s doors opened two decades ago.

With its shops on Massachusetts Avenue and 86th Street doing so well, Global Gifts is currently exploring the possibility of opening at a third location.

In appreciation of the store’s customers, both locations will offer a 20 percent discount on anything that can fit in a large shopping bag Friday and Saturday.

Hunger advocacy meets the world food crisis

With food prices on the rise the world over, hunger is a burgeoning problem. That’s the message of hunger advocacy organization Bread for the World’s board Chair Dave Miner.

Miner will explore the impact and root causes of the world food crisis during two meetings at the Friedens United Church of Christ coffee café, hosted by the newly formed Southside Bread chapter. The World Bank estimates that 100 million more people are going hungry due to food price rises.

Bread members make a commitment to “end hunger in our lifetimes,” says Sarah Blossom, associate pastor of Friedens UCC. Miner’s presentation will explain how local people can be of help in this cause. “I believe Bread for the World when they say that if monies were distributed differently, everyone in the world could be fed,” Blossom says.

Miner will speak at 7 p.m. Aug. 4 and at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 6 at 8300 S. Meridian (135).

More information: pastorsarah@friedensycc.org.

KIB invites care for creation

To David Forsell, president of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, “It is logical that faith, environment and service converge.”

Many faith traditions have a particular investment in caring for the earth. Tapping that spirit, KIB is targeting communities of faith for an Aug. 27 discussion of NeighborWoods, a plan to plant 100,000 trees in the city.  

Forsell adds, “Planting a tree is an act of appreciation and caretaking for our world ... it often is an act of charity and service, because KIB volunteers plant in many neighborhoods that otherwise could not afford new trees. And, at KIB, tree planting is an activity done in community, where greater understanding, relationship and empathy are engendered.”

The benefits of trees are legion: cleaning the air, filtering water, cooling property, reducing crime. According to KIB estimates, Indianapolis has lost 25 percent of its trees in the past few decades. That’s why the agency is mobilizing diverse communities of people for NeighborWoods, which would work to restore the city’s tree canopy.

Lunch will be provided at the meeting, which takes place at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 27 at KIB’s new location, 1029 Fletcher Ave. To RSVP, contact Teresa Rhodes at trhodes@kibi.org or 317-264-7555, ext. 115.

For more information on NeighborWoods: http://kibi.org/programs/urban_forestry/neighborwoods.html.

Artists come together for peace

Poetry, music, and motivation come together when the Indy Artists’ Peace Project hosts a variety show around the themes of peace, nonviolence and social justice Aug. 9.

Organizers hope to impart their audience with timely information about peace and justice in a low-key format, according to writer Michelle Gussow. “A lot of people who won’t get involved in a peace issue will come out and see a show,” she says.

Through storytelling, motivational speaking, poetry and song, the event will break through the mainstream win/lose mindset, she says. “In this world people are trained to demand a win/lose situation. People for some reason are willing to accept a lose/lose, just so someone else isn’t winning. I hope people come away realizing we can have a win/win.”

Performers for the evening include Gussow, singer/songwriter Everett McKee, classical guitarist Dan Henkel and other Indiana artists.

The show begins at 7 p.m. at the Bean Cup Coffee Shop, 8908 S. Saint Peter St., and will be broadcast live on www.thebeancup.com. More information: www.myspaace.com/indyartistpeaceproject.

Earth House hosts FringeFilm and Roadshow

The Earth House at Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church has a record of showing socially conscious films that draw a crowd. In August, Earth House will be the venue for Indy FringeFilm, a production of the Indianapolis International Film Festival.

Aug. 9 screenings include FEMA City, about the impact of Hurricane Charley on one Florida community. Aug. 15, the eye-opening FLOW: For Love of Water will be shown. Aug. 16 offerings will include Found in China, a documentary about Americans adopting Chinese infants.

In addition, the church will host the month-long art show The Art of Politics, featuring local artists, and will be open during the IDADA First Friday gallery walk Aug. 1.

More information: www.indyfringe.org.

Also this month, Lockerbie UMC brings three outspoken emergent Christian leaders’ “Church Basement Roadshow” to town. This program offers a justice-oriented look at “the way we do church,” according to Lockerbie’s Mike Oles. In the style of old-time revivalists, authors Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette will bring their message of the new Christian movement.

The 90-minute conversation and book signing starts at 7 p.m. Aug. 4. More information: www.churchbasementroadshow.com.

Gay Pentecostals to meet

The Global Alliance of Affirming Apostolic Pentecostals will hold its General Conference in Indianapolis Aug. 14-17.

According to organizer the Rev. Kevin Konkle, pastor of True Love Christian Fellowship, the conference features dynamic worship services. Pentecostal GLBT ministers from all over the country will preach.

Konkle hopes that the meetings will offer a renewed sense of belonging to GLBT Christians and particularly Pentecostals who have been marginalized. “When they come to our services and see that it’s genuine and feel the presence of God, it changes their view of themselves,” he says.

A Christian-music drag show, interspersed with comedy sketches, will take place at 10 p.m. Aug. 16.

All activities will be held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, and most are open to the public. More information: www.AffirmingApostolics.com.

Take a bite of Indiana

Foodie Victoria Wesseler wants everyone in Indiana to experience the taste of fresh, seasonal produce grown close to home.

That’s the aim of the Aug. 31-Sept. 6 statewide Going Local Week, which she is sponsoring in partnership with a host of other invested parties, including Purdue University, farmers’ markets, local food producers, growers and retailers.

The one-week challenge to Hoosiers is to eat at least one locally grown or produced food at each meal. Wesseler, author of the Going Local Web site, says organizers hope that eating locally grown and produced foods will become the statewide norm instead of a novelty. There is no central Going Local Week event or food festival; instead, she wants people to “do their own thing to celebrate local foods” in their own communities, perhaps with local food potlucks.

From increased nutrition, freshness and flavor to a stronger rural economy, there are countless reasons to eat from the local foodshed. Wesseler hopes the week-long celebration will inspire more people to try it. “It’s a fun, joyful event; there’s nothing punitive about it.”

More information: www.goinglocal-info.com.