Neena Satija Photo
More than 20 clergy members joined occupiers on the Green Monday morning to ask: How can we help?
“Occupiers, this is clergy. Clergy, this is occupiers,” said the Rev. John Gage of the United Church on the Green (pictured above, from the back), as the 15 or so participants of the Occupy New Haven movement whom the clergy met echoed his words in the human amplification method used by Occupy movements across the country.
After several ministers read prayers expressing solidarity with the occupiers, the two groups fell into a discussion of what they could do to support each other.
The occupiers’ main request: Help for the onset of winter.
“Blankets, blankets, blankets,” said Jennifer Lopez, who has been living on the Green since Occupy New Haven officially launched on Saturday, Oct. 15.
“It’s going to get very, very cold, and we plan to be out here through the winter,” said Drew Peccerrillo, a server and bartender from West Haven. Winter clothes would be much appreciated, he said, as well as help with paying for gas.
The Rev. Allie Perry of Shalom United Church of Christ on Temple Sreet takes notes during Monday’s event.
“Do you guys have a generator?” asked Kathleen McTigue, pastor of the Unitarian Society of New Haven, who said she has also been to the occupation on Wall Street in New York.
The city has given the occupiers access to propane gas and “verbally” promised they could use a generator on the Green, responded another occupier calling himself Tommy Doomsday (pictured). But neither of those come cheap.
The occupiers told the clergy they need help paying for gas and a way to find a cheap diesel generator that can provide a sustainable power source throughout the winter. And they need people to volunteer to cook meals for both themselves and the homeless population on the Green whom the occupiers have often been feeding.
Gage offered the use of his church’s kitchen to anyone willing to help cook. He’s offered the occupiers use of the church for their twice-weekly General Assemblies in the event of inclement weather, as well as its wireless internet connection and restrooms. Gage himself also spent several nights on the Green last week in a tent dubbed the “Spirit Lodge.”
Previous coverage of Occupy New Haven and Occupy Wall Street:
• Occupiers Eye Clock Factory
• In New Haven, “Occupiers” Embrace The Cops
• Midnight Drug Warning Sparks Soul-Searching
• Emergency Session Poses Democracy Test
• The Password (The Password) … Is (Is) …
• 1,000 Launch New Haven’s “Occupation”
• Klein: Occupation Needs To Confront Power
• Whoops! Movement Loses $100K
• New Haven’s “Occupation” Takes Shape
• Occupy Branford: Wall Street Edition
• Anti-Bankers’ Dilemma: How To Process $$
• Labor, Occupiers March To Same Beat
• Protests’ Demand: A “World We Want To See”
• Protesters To Occupy Green Starting Oct. 15
• Wall Street Occupiers Page Verizon
• New Haven Exports “Free”-dom To Occupiers