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Local Pagans go back to school

Tara Nelsen, the founder of the Southern Illinois Pagan Alliance, wants the community to know SIPA is a part of it, too, that they are active, and they want to impact it in a positive way. They will be collecting school supplies for school-aged children to be made into individual kits.

"We're not all that different really, we're not all that strange, we're not scary and bad. Come meet us and see what you think after that," Nelsen said.

Valerie Bruce of SIPA recognized the need and turned her concern into SIPA's fall charity event. The event started July 1 and ends Aug. 15. The items they will be collecting include 12 pack crayons, pencils, pink erasers, glue, safety scissors, pencil boxes, and tissues. Monetary donations to purchase these items will also be accepted.

The donations will be going to Head Start, which is an organization where preschool children of low-income families are put into a program to help with their overall development and needs. Nelsen hopes that when other parents are buying their children school supplies, they will buy extras to donate. Surplus items will be donated to local schools.

"A good many of us have children, nieces or nephews that we care about," Bruce said. "Anything good that you can do for a child is a wonderful, very positive experience,"

SIPA been involved with charity work since its founding in 1998. Its members' efforts include children's toys and books, pet food, food and clothing drives. Volunteers for the drives not only come from the association, but from the community as well. One of their largest charity events was a clothing drive for the Women's Center. Bruce came up with the drive that resulted in more than 100 boxes of clothing collected for the Women's Center's clothing closet.

The biggest charity event so far this year was a children's book drive for local hospitals. Over 1,800 new and used books were collected for Memorial Hospital of Carbondale and Heartland Regional Hospital. Local bookstores donated, and Barnes and Noble's gave the volunteers a special book sale day.

"From the beginning, we knew that we wanted to do something good for the community because we live here, too," Nelsen said. "We looked and saw what was a constant need. Canned food for food pantries was always needed, and we also wanted to do something for animals. A lot of pagans consider their pets and animals to be family."

The association began in 1998 when pagan minister Don Elwell believed there needed to be more than a University discussion group for pagans to be aligned to. SIPA was created and has grown and made connections to other organizations not only in Southern Illinois, but also in Missouri and Kentucky. There are 75 members and 225 people on their discussion list serve.

SIPA's mission is to promote networking, community building, and service opportunities for the pagan community in Southern Illinois and the surrounding region. SIPA also provides education about Paganism and outreach to the broader community. Their goal is to promote unity, equality, and acceptance for all spiritual paths.

Their next ritual for the first harvest, Lammas/Lughnasadh, and will be held at noon Sunday at Giant City State Park in Shelter 2. The opening ritual will take place at 1 p.m., and they will be taking donations for a canned food drive.

Nelsen said now is a great time for their rituals because of the weather.

"Most of our rituals are public events, especially the ones in the warmer months, where we can be out in the park," Nelsen said. "A big part of that is to say, 'Look, we can do this.'

"We can gather in a public place right in front of everybody, and we're safe. We don't have to worry."

Factoid: To donate, call529-5029. Call the provided number if you would like the items to be picked up. Donation drop off is at New Ages Other Worlds , 1337 Walnut St. Murphysboro. For more information about SIPA contact: SIPA c/o Tara Nelsen 602 N. Michaels, Carbondale, IL 62901. E-mail taracat@earthlink.net. You can visit their website at http://sipa.timerift.net .