07/26/2026
PLOWSHARE BOARD MEETING-JULY 2026
Date: 7/14/26
Present: Gary Sandman, Mike Bentley, Roxana Navab, Manuel Dotson, Ruthi Blackman, Sherman Bamford, Collette Davis. Regrets from Anni Lee and Elijah Haynes.
1. Board-Voting Rights Statement-Director will send an email to Mike, who will write a Plowshare board statement about voting rights to be shared with others, based on the recent Federal Supreme Court and Virginia Supreme Court decisions.
2. Infrastructure Committees
a. Finance Committee
1. Balance-Plowshare has $13,055 in our checking and saving accounts, with all bills paid. A significant amount of contributions came in from our recent newsletter.
2. Stewardship-Any suggestions about increasing revenue or savings costs were welcomed. It was suggested that we reduce our contributions to Radio Free Roanoke and the Virginia Defender and that the newsletter be smaller and use differently-colored and thinner paper.
b. Outreach Committee
1. Social Media-600 people are now on the email list; 200 are on the Facebook group; 900 are on the page; and 225 people are on Instagram. We have many visitors to our website.
2. Newsletter-Another Plowshare News newsletter came out in June.
3. Tabling-The Democratic City Council Debate will take place on July 23 at the Unitarian-Universalist Church. We will table there. The Henry Street Festival is on September 19. As more information becomes available, we may table there.
4. Parade-Plowshare will march in the Labor Day Parade on September 5. We will gather at Third Street and Campbell Avenue at 11 AM, and parade steps off at noon.
5. Next Meeting-Committee meeting is scheduled for July 21 at 8 PM, through Zoom.
c. Volunteers Committee
1. Teen Peace Jam-Anni Lee and Elijah Haynes, two of the Teen Peace Jam organizers, have expressed interest in exploring joining the Plowshare board. Director is following up on this. He contacted seven of the teens in all.
2. Recruits-We invited the board to suggest people we might approach for service on the board and on the Lobbying Committee. People are free to approach us without being asked.
3. Action Committees & Coordinators
a. Vigil Committee-A small group attended the June vigil. We discussed ways of outreach to improve attendance. Director will be in touch with Mike about this.
b. Program Committee
1. Progressives Potluck-The Progressives Potluck gathered on June 28. Laura Hartman from the Bus Riders of Roanoke Advocacy Group was the main speaker. Seventeen people attended from several activist groups. We are recruiting contacts in various activist groups to alert their people when a potluck is coming up. Next Progressives Potluck will be on September 23 at 6 PM at the Friends Meetinghouse.
2. “The Earth’s Environmental Crisis and What We Can Do About It” program-A Plowshare panel about the environment will be offered on July 18 from 2 to 4 PM at Williams Memorial Baptist Church. It will be a panel with Mike Bentley, Bob Egbert and Dan Crawford.
3. Open House-The annual Plowshare Open House tentatively will be October 17 from 2 to 4 PM at the Friends Meetinghouse. Board approved Pastor David Jones of Williams Memorial Baptist Church as the recipient of the Peace- and Justice-maker of the Year Award.
4. Voices from the Holy Land Salon-Marketing the Genocide: Israeli Hasbra and the Brainwashing of America is the August film; online salon is on August 16 at 3 PM.
5. New Programs-We are looking at a conference about Community Organizing. The 2027 Teen Peace Jam will begin organizing in the fall. Programs on International Peace Day and gun violence are also possibilities.
6. Next Meeting-Committee meeting is scheduled for July 21 at 8 PM, through Zoom.
c. Carpooling Coordinator-N/A.
d. Lobbying Committee-Meetings-Mike and Collette attended the Fairfax Grassroots meeting. Topics discussed included Palestine, cryptocurrency, the environment, ICE and the proposed data centers. Mike spoke to Senator Warner’s office about intelligence agencies.
e. Public Information Committee-Action Alert #99 was sent out. AA #100 is coming out next!
f. Palestine Committee
1. Social Media-Mike posted material about Palestinians on our social media.
2. BDS List-Director has copies to hand out when we table. The list comes from the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
3. Southwest Virginia Coalition for Palestine-We continue to look at the relationship of SWVAC4P and Plowshare.
g. Pax Christi Coordinator-No report.
4. Other-We may look at creating a Plowshare teen group.
5. Next Meeting-No board meeting in August. Next board meeting is September 8 at 8 PM, through Zoom.
