My long term goals, are a bigger picture.  I want to build an organization that has ties and connections to as many people as we can.  In order to build this, my brain goes to the approach I heard at one of the dnc meetings.  There is an example of a state going from red to blue.  How, they had volunteers each willing to work with about 10 to 20 people and follow up with conversations all year long and when election day came, helped with reminding them to vote, and getting them to the poles.   I am a data person, the more information I have the better answer I can give you.  My brain tonight is telling me I should be asking these questions.

1.      What level are you willing to help with elections?

a.      I will think about voting, and maybe talking to someone

b.     I will be voting, but don’t expect more from me

c.      I will vote, and I can remind friends to vote.

d.     I will vote and am willing to be a volunteer to talk to multiple people about voting.

e.      I will vote, and will help with matching and organizing people to vote.

2.      Name, phone number, email- preferred communication style?

3.      What level are you willing to help beyond the election.  Select all that apply.

a.      As long as I vote that is enough.

b.     I will come to a protest.

c.      I will join a zoom call.

d.     I will host zoom calls.

e.      I will add website content.

f.        I will attend a volunteer event.

g.      I will organize a volunteer event.

The volunteer events is to show people that we are not the enemy, were are their neighbors who simply want to do good things. 

A data base filled with the names and answers for all of the above would be amazing.

I would really like to have a solid database for the next election that tells me a breakdown of who exactly each candidate is.  Where do they stand on democracy? And a history to point to of past votes if elected.

Zoom session geared toward education on how things work, including how our government works. And any other topic people want to understand better.

So the last part I have for you today, what do I expect your part to be.

1.      Come with an open mind and willing to listen and talk.  I am the first to admit when I don’t know something.  I am willing to learn new stuff. Anyone who has decided that they have only one goal, to explain to me how right wing media telling the truth, can please leave now.  

a.      Anyone who is here to argue will be asked to leave.  The goal is safe and open minded discussion.

2.      See something say something.  If you see something that is wrong, you need to be willing to speak up.  You can always talk to me individually or fill out the contact us form on the website.  It goes only to me and it will remain confidential.  So many times people see something wrong and don’t say anything because they think someone else will see the problem and fix it.   The truth is then no one says anything and it doesn’t get fixed.  I heard a story where a girl did an experiment. She got store brownies and made brownies from scratch.  She used sugar instead of salt in her homemade brownies. She gave them out to other kids and asked what is better my homemade or the store bought.  Everyone one of them said the homemade ones.  Why they didn’t want to hurt her feelings.   But what if that girl didn’t know that the containers at home were mixed up.  And the next time she made the brownies and took it to a competition.  She would be so upset.  It is better to learn of the problems when they appear and see what we can do to fix them.

The very last thing I need you to do, is to find one more person to come to a zoom meeting. Or tell your friends about them.  We need to spread the word.  This will become a place where we can simply talk and get to know each other, learn and grow.  If the meetings get too big, we will start to host multiple meetings where we can work together.

The best way we can move forward is to build a community, one built on the basic foundations of honesty, facts, and support for all people.