Unitarian Universalists share a commitment to working on real problems in the real world: poverty and homelessness, racial intolerance, environmental damage. While we are not all of one mind about causes or solutions for society's ills, nor do we pretend to have an exclusive claim to humanitarian service, we do place a high value on the ethical application of our faith.

Many come to this religion specifically to find a community in which they can work alongside others of different beliefs in contributing toward a common goal, whether it is building a shelter for children of an impoverished neighborhood or helping to ease the suffering of AIDS patients. In San Diego, UU's help Mama's Kitchen, a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization, that prepares and delivers food to men, women and children who are affected by AIDS or other critical illnesses.

On environmental damage, UU's are looking to Al Gore's organization The Climate Project. Al Gore has made it a mission to inform the public about the science and effects of global warming through his organization. The Climate Project is a movement to educate and challenge citizens, and governments into action against the growing crisis of global warming.

Our Unitarian Universalist heritage is rich in the deeds of noted social reformers, among them Clara Barton (founder of the American Red Cross), Samuel Gridley Howe (founder of schools for the blind), and Dorothea Dix (advocate for better treatment of mentally ill patients).

Closer to the present day are Albert Schweitzer (medical missionary and humanitarian who won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize) and James Reeb (UU minister who was murdered after participating in a civil-rights demonstration, ultimately resulting in passage of the federal Voting Rights Act).

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, which rescued nearly 3,000 people from the World War II Nazi regime, continues its work today as a human-rights organization.