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CUUPS
 Yuletide blessings to you from the Hawk’s Hoop Chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS). All persons interested or curious about Earth-centered religion are invited to our solemn ceremony to celebrate the start of the Sun’s journey back to the Northern Hemisphere as the Wheel of the Year turns once again at NWUUC.
Our candlelight Yule Ritual will be held in conjunction with a Full Moon on Saturday, December 18th at 7 PM in the church proper for masked and vaccinated persons and on Zoom (https://nwuuc.org/zoom then click on the “Sunday Services” button). Following the Celebration participants are asked to bring a dessert or light snack to share; mulled cider will be on hand.
For further information about the Ritual or about Hawk’s Hoop CUUPS, contact Harry Trendell (404-384-7881 or geogprof97@gmail.com).
 Circle Dinners
Wishing you and your family a most wonderful Holiday Season!
From your Circle Dinner Divas:
Judy McKinley and Kat Benoy
 NWUUC Book Groupies
The NWUUC Book Groupies will be reading The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd for our Tuesday, January 11, 7 pm meeting. Author Kidd is best known for her novels The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Winds, both novels set in her own locale, our South. For this latest historical novel, she did extensive research on the lives of women in the first century during New Testament times in those lands and imagines the possibility that her very human Jesus had a wife, as would have been expected by his Jewish faith. This novel is quite an achievement and will make for a good discussion.
If you would like a copy of this book from our NWUUC Bellwether Books store please leave Penny Raney a message at 770 551 8817 and we will get a copy to you. Also let Penny know if you want to join the meeting as we will be waiting to see where it is safe to meet in January, zoom or room.
Auction Reminders!!
If you have paid your auction balance, thank you so much! If this is still on your to-do list, please send in a check or pay in Realm at your earliest convenience. We would like to put our fabulous auction to bed so we can move on to other fun!
If you haven’t received your item, please reach out to your seller to arrange a pickup. If you have lost that email, please reach out to Gwenkahn@gmail.com or melissaniedermeyer@gmail.com and we will get you the contact information for your seller.
STEWARDSHIP FUN AND FUNDS!!
The Stewardship Ministry team is looking for soup makers who are willing to contribute their favorite homemade soups to the upcoming “Soup-a-palooza” beginning January 9! As the winter settles in we can all enjoy some hot soups made by our friends while raising funds for NW!—just heat, eat and enjoy!
 Are you willing to contribute a few pints of your favorite soup recipe to kick off our project on January 9, 2022? If so, please contact Gwen Kahn to let her know and just bring your soups (labeled) that Sunday.
Take home some soul warming goodness while supporting our Home in the Woods!
Soups will be available to purchase on alternate Sundays in Jan and Feb. beginning with our FIRST in person Sunday service on Jan. 9th. Vegan and Vegetarian options available.
All pints for sale- $5
 VALENTINES DAY, TACOS, AND BINGO- IT’S A WINNING COMBINATION!!
CELEBRATE Valentine’s Day with your NW family!
Feb 12, 5 pm dinner, 6 pm bingo and 8 pm raffle drawing
COME for the delicious Taco Bar (BYOB) and STAY for an awesome night of BINGO!
WIN delicious baked-good prizes!
PLAY Corn Hole!
RAFFLE for Date/Friend Night basket! – 1 ticket for $5
or 3 for $12
Tickets on sale Jan 9 and include dinner and one Bingo card.
$15 Adult
$6 child
$40 maximum per family for a night of fun!
Additional playing cards available during the event for $2 each.
Do you want to take advantage of a tax break for 2021? Consider making an extra pledge payment before the end of the year—or fulfilling your 21-22 pledge if that works for you.
Larry Wallis has provided us with some end-of-year tax suggestions that he obtained from his financial planning group.
As always, the Board of Trustees appreciate your continued financial support of our Home in the Woods.
By donating from your IRA directly to a qualifying Charitable Organization, you may reduce your income taxes and increase the net amount to the Charitable Organization. This direct transfer is called a Qualified Charitable Distribution.
A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is generally a nontaxable distribution from your IRA (other than a SEP or SIMPLE IRA) paid by your IRA Trustee directly to a Charitable Organization eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. The funds must not pass through your hands, and the maximum amount for QCDs is $100,000 annually.
Reference: www.irs.gov, pub 590-B (2020), topic: Qualified Charitable Distributions
What are the benefits of a QCD?
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The QCD amount can count toward satisfying your Required Minimum Distribution.
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You do not pay income tax on the QCD amount because the distribution is not taxable income to you.
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Because the gift amount does not increase your taxable income, it will not affect Social Security benefits and will not increase subsequent Medicare premiums.
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The money that you would ordinarily pay to the IRS in income tax goes instead to the charitable organization.
Who is eligible?
IRA owners who are age 70 ½ or older at the end of 2021 are eligible to use a QCD.
The CARES ACT allows you to use a QCD upon reaching age 70 ½ (or older) by the end of 2021, even though it pushed the starting age for RMD’s out to age 72.
This definition is from IRS pub 590B for tax year 2020, as updated May 13, 2021.
Example calculation
Assume (for simplicity of calculation) you are in the 25% tax bracket and your RMD for this year is $10,000 or more.
If you made an ordinary distribution of $10,000 to yourself from the IRA, you would pay $2,500 (or less, depending on other deductions) in income tax, leaving $7,500 (or more) to donate to a Charitable Organization.
On the other hand, if a $10,000 Qualified Charitable Distribution were made directly to the charitable organization, these would apply:
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$10,000 of your RMD requirement for the current year would be satisfied.
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All $10,000 would go to the charitable organization.
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You would pay no income tax on the $10,000.
Contrast a Charitable Contribution from a non-IRA (after-tax) account
For charitable donations from a non-IRA account, consider donating highly appreciated stocks. The actual cost to you is the original purchase price of the stocks. You would avoid paying capital gains tax on the increase in value, and the charity would liquidate the stocks at current market value.
Disclaimer: You should consult your IRA Trustee or Tax Accountant before acting on these tips.
The office will be closed Friday, December 24, 2021-Sunday, January 2, 2022.
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