Postcard Party Sunday 3-5 pm
Postcard Party: Let's Get Out the Vote
IMV's Steering Committee has been working for months to organize a strategic postcard plan to get out the vote for our local Democratic candidates, especially those we have canvassed for and supported. We have postcards to rural Democratic voters and even a postcard that encourages our target voters to turn out to vote for our judicial candidates. Thanks to all those who have already picked up bundles from our boxes around town. It's been heartening to see them disappear so quickly. We have 1000 left to write and we need to get them in the mail very quickly because of Early Voting.
So our final push on postcards is the IMV Postcard Party on Sunday, Oct. 17, 3-5 pm at the Jewish Community Center, 2310 Oneida Street in Utica. Please join us for this fun social time, a final chance to coordinate our actions for Early Voting and Election Day, and a lot of postcard writing!
Saturday Morning Big Lit Drop for Celeste
Celeste Friend's Re-election campaign has a big Lit Drop project planned for Saturday morning that requires 40 volunteers giving two hours each. The project does not require engaging individuals at the household, it is not canvassing. Letters, written by one of about 30 of Celeste's constituent supporters to their own local neighbors will be placed behind a mailbox, or rolled in a door handle, etc. We will NOT be knocking on doors or ringing doorbells.
Meet in the parking lot behind Raspberries (restaurant out of business) at 2634 Genesee St in Utica at 10 AM Saturday October 16. The task should take less than 2 hours, and then all are welcome at 37 Emerson Ave, Utica for a chili (or veggie chili) lunch.
Town of Trenton Meet the Candidates Event on Saturday
The Trenton Democratic Committee is hosting its annual “Meet the Candidates” in person from 1 to 3 pm on Saturday, October 16th, 2021, on the Holland Patent Village Green.
See more details at https://trentonnydems.org/ The event is a casual, fun, home-town event that allows voters to listen to and visit with candidates running for election in November. Please attend to support IMV members Joe and Kelli Samson who have been working so hard on Joe's campaign for town board.
Voter registration and campaign materials will be available. This event is free and open to the public, with live music. CDC guidelines advise wearing masks in crowded outdoor settings. and when social distancing is not possible and the vaccination status of others is unknown.
Community Equity Forum Wednesday
As the next step in its 10-year, $10 million commitment to enhance racial equity and social justice, the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida County and its equity advisory group will hold a public forum in October to hear from residents about neighborhood needs, and to report on the group’s work over the past several months.
“We have a very diverse advisory group reflective of the full Mohawk Valley community,” said Jawwaad Rasheed, Community Foundation Board of Trustees chair. “This is a really deep, concerted effort to understand what the issues are, listen and learn from our community residents and stakeholders, and I believe with all of the skills and intelligence of the people in the room, we’re going to get very good recommendations as to how we can move to break barriers and start making real investments to overcome systemic issues, especially racism.”
The Community Equity Forum will take place on Wednesday, October 20, 6:00-8:30 p.m., at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, with a report on the group’s work to date, and breakout sessions for attendees to share their thoughts. Community residents are encouraged to attend the event, and to register in advance, foundationhoc.org/equityforum or 315-731-3736, due to limited seating. All participants will be asked to practice social distancing and follow CDC mask guidelines. Doors open at 5 p.m.
IMV members have been engaged in political action for almost five years working toward equity: racial, social, economic, and climate justice with a commitment to anti-racism Please register and attend this event as part of this effort.
IMV LTE Group Hitting Their Numbers
IMV's LTE Group, focused on writing letters to the editor of local newspapers, got busy and motivated a couple weeks ago to meet local deadlines for letters in support of candidates. The results are starting to show. Here's Sue Timian's letter in the Rome Sentinel. (Sue canvassed for Joe Samson when IMV went up to Trenton a few weeks ago). Carole Gehrig recently joined Sarah Reeske in getting a letter in support of Anthony Brindisi published in the Syracuse Post-Standard. Carole has also had her letter in support of Anthony and Karen Stanislaus published in the Rome Sentinel, and got this letter into the Utica Phoenix. Carole and Kathy Wojciechowski have both had their letters in support of Anthony and Karen published in My Little Falls.
Many more letter writers have received confirmation calls in the last few days so we can expect a lot more of our IMV members to be published soon. Please note that the Utica OD is no longer taking candidate support letters but the Rome Sentinel will do so up until Oct. 25. Sooner is better!
#TimeToDeliver: Calls to Make Today
In case you missed Indivisible's recent #TimeToDeliver livestream, here is a brief recap for you from Indivisible National with the call we need to make to all three of our MoCs today:
"In a major victory for us, Progressives were able to hold the line at the end of September! This means we were able to make major progress towards advancing President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and caused House leadership to delay the vote on the smaller Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) until October 31, which means Congress must pass an inclusive reconciliation bill before that deadline.
However, just because our deadline changed doesn’t mean our strategy is any different. It is still extremely critical that we use our grassroots power to win a bold reconciliation package that enacts all the key components of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. Click here to call Rep. Tenney and let her know it is #TimeToDeliver on an inclusive recovery package that works for all Americans.
The policies laid out in the reconciliation package will have massive positive impacts for people and families across the country. This fight is about expanding access to affordable health care and child care. It’s about making investments in a strong climate strategy. It’s about creating a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants and migrants. It’s about investing in housing, especially affordable housing and housing for unhoused populations. It’s about ensuring paid family and medical leave for every worker nationwide. In short, it’s about people. That’s why it’s important that once you’ve called your representative, you click here and call Sen. Schumer and Sen. Gillibrand and tell them it is #TimeToDeliver for all people.
The stakes have never been higher, and with less than three weeks to pass this reconciliation bill and Biden’s full Build Back Better agenda, we must be bold in this moment and unapologetic in our work." Call and keep calling!
We Need Stamps and Money for Stamps
We need stamps for the 3500 postcards we are writing in 10 days to mail to voters locally to remind them to vote for our candidates.
Please bring postcard stamps on Sunday when you come to the Postcard Party.
Other ways to contribute to this big effort:
We always welcome donations of any size to our IMV checking account. Donations can be made to IMV and mailed to 2 Laurelwood Rd, New Hartford, NY 13413 or Venmo @Deborah-Wilson-Allam with note "IMV donation."
We also welcome small donations to our ActBlue account here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/indivisibleohc421610861. Indivisible National is matching donations up to a total of $500 from now until the end of October. We'd like to take advantage of that, but funds donated to that account are much more restricted, so we'd like to get to just exactly $500 in donations--but not much over! We'll update the status of the fundraiser each week.
Thank you for your generous contributions!
Thank you to everyone who has been writing postcards!
Thank you to everyone who has been writing letters to the editor!
Thank you to all those who have been showing up to knock doors and drop literature for Caroline Reale, Celeste Friend, Joe Samson, Anthony Brindisi, Karen Stanislaus, Sparkle Anthony, and other local candidates. Every one of these candidates is in a competitive race with great consequences for building progressive power and making sure that our elected officials and judges are experienced, listen to and care about real people, and share our values.
Anyone can talk about politics. The ACTIONS are how we win.
Follow us on Twitter using @indivisiblemv and of course our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.
