Our mission is to promote unity through a sharing of cultural values, an appreciation of the richness of diversity and a commitment to justice through education, advocacy and service. We are committed to inter-ethnic understanding and cooperation.
Founded in 1993

JANUARY
Jan. 9 -- T.C. Executive Committee meeting held to determine Unity In Diversity Award winner. (But a different decision, without Scott Peeples' input, had already been made.)

Jan. 11 -- Scott Peeples gives talk on diversity and acceptance to students at Wilson Middle School in Appleton.

Jan. 14 -- Party held for volunteers at Ram Shet's house to celebrate the success of Foods of All Nations.

Jan. 17 -- Toward Community: Unity In Diversity regular monthly meeting held.
The group's new website, created by Terry Dawson, is praised.

Jan. 21 -- 10th annual Martin Luther King Celebration. Keynote speaker: James Cameron, founder of America's Black Holocaust Museum. Unity in Diversity award winner: Scott Peeples. MLK essay winners read their works. Thirty two sponsors, 473 people in attendance and $688 taken in through the collection.

Jan. 24 -- Kathy Fredericks meets with Wisconsin Research to discuss helping facilitate a series of seminars regarding the Radical Right and their attacks on gays and lesbians.

Jan. 25 -- NBC (Channel 26) tapes a segment about hate groups in Northeast Wisconsin. Kathy is interviewed. Pastor Tom Bowman, an alleged white supremacist in the area, is also mentioned.

Jan. 26 -- Kathy speaks at First United Methodist Church on diversity and advocacy.

Jan. 30 -- Executive Committee meeting.

Jan. 31 -- Kathy meets with a Neenah teacher to discuss racist and homophobic incidents at Neenah High School.

FEBRUARY
Feb. 1 -- Hispanic Interagency meeting held at Fox Valley Technical College. These meetings are held once a month and often attended by at least one Toward Community representative.

Feb. 2 -- Kathy visits Rufus King High School in Milwaukee with Mayor Ken Harwood of Neenah and some Kimberly Clark employed to discuss diversity in schools and the race for state superintendent of schools.

Feb. 5 -- First official meeting at Neenah High School with teachers to discuss formation of a student/teacher diversity group.

Feb. 5 -- Toward Community puts out a press release in full support of United Way Fox Cities decision to require agencies it funds to sign a nondiscrimination statement. (The decision effectively eliminates United Way funding to the Boys Scouts, who do not allow gay boys to join the organization.)

Feb. 12 -- Scott gives talk on diversity issues to employees and volunteers at Leaven.

Feb. 15 -- Hmong Interagency meeting held at Hmong American Partnership. These meetings are held once a month and almost always attended by at least one Toward Community representative.

Feb. 21 -- T.C. meeting. Kathy Fredericks is elected chair of Toward Community. Scott Peeples is elected vice chair. Jake Czarnik Neimeyer talks about "Peace Camp" at Camp Helen Brachman and Toward Community votes to financially assist young people who wish to attend.

Feb. 22 -- Poetic Justice student poetry presented by Appleton North High School students. Toward Community members Scott Peeples and Sara Druckrey are part of a response panel.

Feb. 24 -- Black History Month program organized by African Heritage held. Kathy gives a welcome.

Feb. 26 -- Kathy does diversity presentation to Child Care workers at Appleton Medical Center.

MARCH
March 1, 2 and 3 -- With Wisconsin Research, T.C. helps facilitate the "Radical Right's Attack" seminars at Memorial Presbyterian Church and Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

March 16 -- T.C. Executive Committee meeting

March 21 -- T.C. meeting. We agree to form a Speaker's Bureau to better accommodate requests for speakers and get the word out about the importance of diversity. Stacey Otteson agrees to be in charge of the bureau. Neenah High School's new diversity group, STAND, plans a "Day of Respect" on May 1. Kathy
is the adviser.

March 21 -- Kathy attends a meeting of Fox River Area Girl Scouts to discuss diversity issues.

APRIL
April 3 -- Kathy and Scott meet with Tom Bowman, who wants to clear his name and the name of his Church of Israel in Stockbridge from connections with racist groups. After not being up front about his past, he does further sole-searching and eventually gives up his separatist ministry completely.

April 5 -- Meetings continue to discuss the creation of Harmony Cafe, a diversity coffee house. Kathy is on the public relations committee. T.C. member Shannon Kenevan is the catalyst behind the project

April 6, 7 -- T.C. holds three Circle Dinners, small dinner parties in members' homes.

April 10 -- Leadership Fox Cities holds it annual Diversity Day. T.C. organizes different booths. Kathy addresses the group.

April 13 -- Kathy and Scott give a diversity presentation to the staff of the Appleton Public Library.

April 18 -- T.C. meeting

April 27 -- United Migrant Opportunities Services holds its scholarship banquet. T.C. members attend.

MAY
May 1 -- Kathy becomes an employee of Harmony Cafe.

May 1 -- STAND holds its Day of Respect at Neenah High School.

May 5 -- T.C. has a diversity booth for children at Appleton YMCA's Healthy Kids Day.

May 10 -- Scott does presentation on diversity issues to 5th graders at McKinley Elementary School in Appleton.

May 16 -- Toward Community meeting. The perceived unfairness of a court case involving Chee Lee is discussed and a committee is formed to study the issue.

May 23 -- Henry Golde, a survivor of the Holocaust, talks about his experience to 6th graders at McKinley Elementary School. This is one of many talks he did in 2001. He is also a Toward Community executive committee member.

JUNE
June 1 -- Scott appears on WHBY's CHAT Room 1150, an hour-long radio talk show, to discuss acceptance of homosexuality in society. The other guest is a man who claims to be a "former" homosexual.

June 7 -- A half-day workshop looking at Hispanic Culture is held for non-profit organizations at UW-Fox Valley. It was planned by the Diversity Initiative group, which includes several members of Toward Community. Following this session, the group begins planning an African American workshop for February 2002.

June 16 -- Harmony Cafe advocates and a number of others paint a mural for peace at the Boys and Girls Club in Appleton.

June 18-23 -- Toward Community sponsors five teens to attend "Peace Camp" and pays for the cost of the us. Kathy helps at the camp. T.C. members Henry Golde and Katie Llanas also give presentations.

June 18 -- Toward Community meeting

June 20 -- Scott gives a talk on diversity and the work of T.C. at Fox Valley Technical College.

JULY
July 18 -- Toward Community meeting

July 28 -- Celebrate Diversity picnic at Erb Park in Appleton. A new attraction of the picnic is a basketball tournament. Another large crowd. Jane LaChapelle McCarty is once again the prime organizer.

AUGUST
Aug. 15 -- Toward Community meeting

Aug. 22 -- Stacey Otteson gives a diversity presentation to a class at Fox Valley Technical College.

Aug. 25 -- Kathak Dance (from India) held at Grand Opera House in Oshkosh.

Aug. 27 -- Toward Community members attend speech for educators by actor and diversity advocate Edward James Olmos at Appleton East High School.

Aug. 28 -- Toward Community Executive Committee meeting. Kathy Fredericks announces she is stepping down as chair of Toward Community to spend more time with Harmony Cafe and her family. Scott will continue as vice chair.

Aug. 31 -- Twenty three people, mostly Toward Community members, travel to Rosholt, Wis. to protest Pete Peters' Scriptures for America, a racist, homophobic group. T.C. vice chair Scott Peeples makes a statement to the media denouncing Peters and also Lions Camp, which not only allows the group to be there but says nothing against his racist teachings. Members of a national anti-racist organization, The Center for New Community, also join the protest. Toward Community subsequently receives national recognition in the CBC newsletter.

SEPTEMBER
Sept. 8 -- Meeting held to plan Foods of All Nations celebration. This is one of several meetings held to plan the event.

Sept. 11 -- Terrorists attack America. Toward Community responds by calling for heightened awareness of diversity in our community and respect for our Muslim neighbors.

Sept. 19 -- Toward Community meeting

Sept. 19 -- Toward Community members meet with Appleton Police Chief Rick Myers to discuss CAPPS initiative for youth.

Sept. 22 -- Foods of All Nations event held at Menasha High School. Ram Shet and Joe Laux are co-chairs. The event takes on added significance in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. The message is clear: "Patriotism in America is diversity in America." About 750 people are in attendance. T.C. makes a donation to New York to benefit the fire fighters.

Sept. 27 -- Toward Community hosts a "town hall" meeting at Goodwill in Menasha to discuss the possibility of a multi-cultural center in our community. Dr. Bola Delano is the catalyst behind this project. Fifteen people take part in the discussion. Shipra Seefeldt is chosen to be Toward Community's representative on the committee that will continue work on this proposal.

Sept. 30 -- Stacey Otteson gives a diversity presentation at First Presbyterian Church of Neenah.

OCTOBER
Oct. 5 -- Harmony Cafe' opens inside Foxley's Cafe in downtown Appleton for programming every Friday evening. All people are encouraged to come.

Oct. 7 -- Toward Community has a booth at Memorial Presbyterian Church's Mission Fair.

Oct. 8 -- Toward Community Executive Committee meeting.

Oct. 12 -- Toward Community members are encouraged to attend a Peace Vigil held every Friday in October and November at Houdini Plaza in Appleton. Fellowship for Reconciliation members Ronna Swift and Barbara Hoffman (who are also T.C. members) are the primary organizations.

Oct. 13 -- B.A.B.E.S sponsors the signing of a "Peace Wall." All benefits go to aid the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Oct. 24 -- Toward Community meeting. T.C. receives its first "thumbs up" in a Post Crescent editorial for its work to put together Foods of All Nations.

Oct. 27 -- IndUS Fox Valley hosts its annual dinner event at Lawrence University. Scott is part of the lamp lighting ceremony.

NOVEMBER
Nov. 3 -- The Inter Tribal Community Center hosts a Native American Feast. Toward Community members attend.

Nov. 7 -- Scott has lunch with local educators and new State Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Burmaster to discuss school and diversity issues.

Nov. 9, 10 -- Kathy and Sara Druckrey attend Center for New Community anti-racism conference in Chicago.

Nov. 13 -- Many Toward Community members attend "Negotiating Cultural Diversity," a presentation by UW-Madison professor Hardin Coleman at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton.

Nov. 15 -- Jane LaChapelle McCarty receives a telephone call from the federal government to say Toward Community has been granted its 501(c)3 tax exempt status. A letter arrives in the mail a few weeks later. Jane, Judy Gaines and Tony Awofeso did most of the paper work to make this a reality.

Nov. 16 -- A large group of Toward Community members attend the Holocaust drama, Dear Finder, at UW-Fox Valley.

Nov. 17 -- The Hmong New Year celebration is held at Appleton North High School.

Nov. 18 -- A pot luck party for volunteers is held in Menasha to celebrate the success of Foods of All Nations.

Nov. 21 -- Toward Community meeting. A committee charged with nominating the 2002 Executive Committee is approved. The chair is Barbara Chambers.

DECEMBER
Dec. 7 -- Seven T.C. families or individuals combine resources to purchase holiday gifts for three families through Outagamie County's Adopt a Family program.

Dec. 8 -- African Heritage Inc. holds its Holiday Dinner Party at UW-Fox Valley. Toward Community members attend.

Dec. 13 -- Meeting held to plan Martin Luther King Celebration. Chair: Roger Bertschausen. Several meetings are planned throughout the year to plan the 11th annual event.

Dec. 19 -- Toward Community hosts at Holiday Dinner party at Fox Valley Unitarian Unversalist Fellowship. Food is catered by Jade (Chinese) and Mexican (Los Compadres) Over 70 people attend. Sara Druckrey is the coordinator.

Report written by Scott Peeples and Kathy Fredericks.

Toward Community: Unity In Diversity
P.O. Box 2181
Appleton, Wisconsin 54912

Membership: $10 (individual), $20 (family)
Toward Community has 123 dues-paying units (single or family).
Check book balance: $6,106.49
Dec. 19, 2001