Democracy for New Mexico

DFA Donates 200,000 LD Phone Minutes to Vets

From Democracy for America:
Last week, Arianna Huffington touched on the subject of wounded soldiers who are unable to call home during the holidays because the government will not pay for their long-distance calls.

Feel like talking to your loved ones while you recover from a wound you received fighting for your country? Not unless you can get someone to give you a handout.... Yet here was Rummy claiming: "We're focused on the power of saying 'thank you' to people. And not just 'thank you' to the troops, but also their families." As long as it's a local call.

In November, we asked the DFA community to step forward and revitalize the service aspect of Democracy for America with a call for phone cards for those men and women who are spending the holidays in veteran's hospitals. In response to that call, you have generously contributed over 100,000 calling card minutes!

Democracy for America is matching your outstanding efforts with our own contribution of 100,000 minutes. This means hundreds of veterans across the country will be able to connect to their home for free. We are sending the cards to nine veterans hospitals in seven different states this week. Every hospital we spoke to was thrilled to receive the minutes—most know this will be the only way for their patients to make a long-distance call home this holiday season.

Governor Dean was also impressed by the DFA community's effort, "There is more to Democracy for America than just politics and campaigning. Our supporters want to personally make a difference in people's lives. These phone cards are just one small way to tell our troops thank you for keeping our country safe and secure."

Congratulations on a successful inaugural DFACorps effort—we hope that this is becomes the first step of many. Together, we can make changes happen!

Editor's Note: DFA-Democracy for New Mexico groups in Albuquerque and Santa Fe donated more almost 4,500 minutes to this project. Thanks to all who participated!

Foodboxes for Families

You may recall Dory and Elena presenting this DeanCorps idea at our DFA Meetup in Albuquerque this month. From Dory Shonagon:

Foodboxes for Families.  This is a simple idea.  Make up foodboxes for needy families and give them directly to the teachers and/or social workers in the schools, who know which families are most in need.

I have done this with one South Valley school and I think it is a great way to get food to the families, through the kids and teachers/social workers. This is espectially important at the end of the month, when food stamps run out, etc.

You can contact a local school directly and talk to teachers or social workers there. I would suggest picking a south valley school or one in a neighborhood where there is a high need for poor families.

I am also helping coordinate this by hooking teachers up with potential donors -- food or dollars for food.  So if you need help doing this, please contact me.  Or if you would like to contribute food or dollars for Foodboxes, please let me know.

We are trying to do this EVERY month, not just Christmas time.  New Mexico has a large population of hungry kids.  They need to eat every month, not just at Christmas time.

Please call or email me if you need help or information.

Dory Shonagon, 363-8488, dshonagon@earthlink.net

UPDATE: AQB DeanCorps Caroling Monday Evening

Dean Singers Update from Nance Crow:

In order to best serve the folks we'll sing to, change is in order for our DeanCorps event on Monday, December 20th:

5:15-5:30: Meet at Albuquerque Rescue Mission Parking Lot, Third and Iron SW. Streets go in both directions in downtown now. Iron is one block south of Coal Ave. We'll pick what we sing and I'll pass out bags of Hershey's Kisses to hand out. They feed as many as 500 in shifts of 80 people!

Please wear festive gear if you can: Santa Hats and Reindeer Antlers work as do seasonal colored sweaters and scarves. If you have any Dean or DFA pins or shirts, you're encouraged to wear those too.

6:00: Go to Dismas House, (a halfway house for guys and gals re-integrating from 'corrections'), 701 Candelaria NW.

6:45: Go to Barrett House, (shelter for homeless women and children), 905 13th St. NW

Choose one:
When we're done we can:

a) go eat somewhere
b) return to Nance Crow's for posole and vegetarian tamales
c) go home and frantically attack holiday to do list

Invite your friends and please email or call me if you are planning to participate:

Bill Sullivan and Nance Crow
324 Hermosa SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
(505) 265-8113
NLCorvus@att.net

Note: Original post about this event can be found here.

ABQ DeanCorps Caroling and More

From Nance Crow:

The ABQ Dean Singers will go caroling on Monday night, Dec. 20th. Posole and all the fixins at my house, 324 Hermosa Dr. SE, 5:30 - 6:30 PM; caroling at a selection of shelters and half-way houses 7:00 - 8:30 PM. (I'll have the details by Mon night.) Will provide cider, cocoa, some (but not all) flashlights and sheet music for popular carols. Would like at least 10 people, the more, quite literally, the merrier! Call me at 265-8113, cell 401-2365.

For January, I'd like about 6 Dean Corps volunteers to go to Barrett House Attic on Saturday, Janurary 15, 10 AM - 2 PM to help them sort donations (primarily clothes and house wares. Lunch following at Hurricane's. At year's end they get so much stuff they can't get it all done.  Barrett House is the homeless Women and Children's shelter; the "Attic,' at 4308 Lomas NE west of Washington, supports the shelter.

love and peace, Nance

Editor's Note: DeanCorps is an action arm of Democracy for America - Democracy for New Mexico. Howard Dean's governorship was marked by support for families and children and DeanCorps celebrates this crucial emphasis by offering service to our communities. DeanCorps was very active across the country during the primaries, and is now being reactivated. This month, DeanCorps groups in 50 states donated long distance phone cards for distribution to vets in VA Hospitals. You can read about New Mexico's participation in this project here.

The Dean Singers were created to sing at various functions to spread the word about Dean's candidacy. Last year, this included caroling in Old Town during the luminaria and tree lighting ceremony, while passing out bumperstickers and more. Much fun. This year, the emphasis is on reaching out to folks in our community with holiday cheer. Anyone can be a Dean Singer. Attitude is everything! Even I can participate, by singing very, very softly and using percussion to cover up my singing voice. If I can do it, so can you! (Antlers and jingle bells optional.) --B.W.

ABQ Meetup Snapshot

A nice shot of Miles Nelson speaking about his new SeedPAC to our Albuquerque DFA - DFNM Meetup at Page One on December 2nd. Photo courtesy of Tom Solomon, one of our members, who submitted it to the Meetup site. It's now featured as our primary group photo. This shot shows only a small portion of the crowd, which filled the entire coffee shop and the area where Page One usually has author presentations, and then spread out among the bookshelves. Standing room only.

If you haven't yet signed up at Meetup, please do. It's the only way to ensure you receive all the emails and notices about DFNM activities and Meetups. There are now DFA -DFNM Meetups in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces. If you'd like to start one of our Meetups in your area, sign up at the Meetup site as a Coordinator and just follow the instructions. There's always a big red link to Meetup on this page, in the upper left-hand sidbar.

Join Us at International Criminal Courts Event on Monday

We’d like to get a good turnout of DFA/DFNM folks at this event. We'll be tabling and passing out information on our organization, so we’d love to have an excellent turnout of our members at this free event:

Albuquerque Chapter United Nations Association, New Mexico Alliance for the International Criminal Court and City of Albuquerque present

UN Day Program 2004 Music, Refreshments and Discussion with JOHN WASHBURN speaking on WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT Monday, October 18, 2004 5:30 to 6:30 PM Music and Refreshments 6:30 to 8:30 PM Talk and Discussion UNM Student Union Building

Speaker’s Biography: John Washburn is director of UNA-USA’s office for the ICC. He has had an extensive career in diplomacy and international governmental and non-governmental organizations, including serving as director of political affairs at the U.N. and director in the executive office of the Secretary-General of the U.N. Previously, Washburn was a member of the foreign service of the U.S. and served in India, Iran, and Indonesia. As a member of the State Department’s Bureau of International Organizations Affairs, he helped to establish and directed an office to further the coordination of American bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. He chaired an Iran Hostage Task Force in 1979, and has been awarded several honors for his meritorious service.

Music: Placitas Mountain Bluegrass Band

JOIN US! Your Voice is Needed!

Co-Sponsors: McCune Charitable Foundation, AAUW, Democracy for America/Democracy for New Mexico, Desert Sky Communications, IJ.S.-China Council of Sister Cities, NAACP —Santa Fe, Veterans for Peace, Committee to Stop the War Machine, Gray Panthers, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, World Voices Independent Media Newspaper of Abq, U.S.-China People’s Friendship Association, Soka Gakkie International, N.M. Arts Alliance/Heritage Council, League of Women Voters, Arab-Jewish Peace Alliance, Albuquerque Committee on Foreign Relations, Citizen Action, ACLU, Albuquerque Friends Meeting, Albuquerque Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, New Mexico Conference of Churches, Center for Action and Contemplation, and others.

Democratic Party Offers 10/4 Voting Rights Training in ABQ, SF, Las Cruces

From the Democratic Party of New Mexico:

November 2nd is weeks away. This critical election is upon us. The Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) is determined to protect voter rights, to insure that no voter is turned away at the polls, and to insure that all votes are counted this time.

DPNM needs your help. We need Democrats willing to volunteer for pre-election, Election Day, and post-Election Day activities. In each county, the County Chair will be appointing poll watchers and challengers. To help the County Chairs, DPNM will be holding training sessions on election laws and voters’ rights. All of these sessions will be held on October 4, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe:

Albuquerque - Plumbers and Steamfitters Union Hall, 510 San Pedro Dr., SE
Las Cruces - Carpenters Hall, 1880 N. Solano
Santa Fe - NEA-New Mexico, 2007 Botolph St.

The training sessions will review:

New Mexico’s Voter Bill of Rights
registration requirements
voter’s eligibility and qualification requirements,
absentee voting
early voting
voter assistance

The trainings will address how to recognize voter intimidation and other unlawful practices, and procedures to be followed by the officials in counting the absentee, early vote, machine and provisional ballots. All Democrats are invited and encouraged to attend. If you are interested in attending or in volunteering for this important project, please reply by email to: Jim@NMVictory2004.com using the words “VOTER PROTECTION PROGRAM NM” in the subject line. Let’s rally New Mexico to vote for Democrats.

ABQ Kerry Campaign Special Events

The lastest from the Kerry campaign in Albuquerque:

As we move into the final month of the campaign, it's more important than ever to come down to headquarters and spend a few hours each week helping out--we have phone banking and canvassing every day, but we also wanted to tell you about some of the special events we have coming up:

Tonight, Thursday, Sep. 30: Debate Party at Kerry Headquarters: Calling for Kerry from 5-7, watching the current president stumble and mumble his way through a debate, 7pm.

Saturday, Oct. 2: Grand Opening of our new Satellite office at 2017 Yale!: Voter Contact BBQ! Come celebrate our expansion with us. 505-242-6636

Saturday, Oct. 2: Canines for Kerry!: Bring your dog down to Kerry HQ and take part in events like "Barking Back at Bush," "Most Political Dog," and "Presidential Look-Alike Dog." At Kerry headquarters, 3301 Central, from 12-3pm. A good time will be had by all.

Click here to order the pictured Canines for Kerry tshirt from CafePress and here to visit the Canines for Kerry website. You can check out the Canines for Kerry flyer here.

Monday, Oct. 4: Get ready to vote tomorrow!: Come down to headquarters for a special early vote visibility party--stay tuned for details.

Thanks for all of your support!
Marci Youngmark
Volunteer Coordinator
505-256-2570

Forum on Education Tuesday in Albuquerque

Please join the Institute for America's Future and the Center for American Progress for a forum on:

Workforce Development: Ensuring Students Have the Tools to Succeed

Robert Borosage, President of the Institute for America's Future and John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, invite you to join them at an upcoming public forum organized as part of their joint project — Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future: A National Task Force on Public Education.

To see the full invite, click here.

Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future: A National Task Force on Public Education is a joint initiative of the Institute for America's Future and the Center for American Progress. The New Mexico forum is the third in a series of public forums to be held throughout the country to learn about local, innovative and effective models for improving education. Upon completion of the last public forum, the Task Force will produce a major report with policy and program recommendations for modernizing and renewing public education in the United States.

WHEN: Tuesday, September 28, 2004, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: TVI Workforce Training Center, 5600 Eagle Rock Avenue NE, Albuquerque

TO RSVP: Please e-mail Erika Faulkner at efaulkner@griffinassoc.com, or call her at 505-764-4444 ext. 225

To learn more about Task Force click here

Kerry Rally at Phil Chacon Park Today

Kerry is back in Albuquerque today for a rally at Phil Chacon Park at Kathryn just east of Lousiana. As many as 15,000 people are expected to attend. Governor Bill Richardson and Senator Jeff Bingaman will also speak to the crowd. With the presidential race reving up to warp speed, this should be an event to remember.

Click here to print your ticket. When you return, stop in here to share your thoughts and feelings about the event. (Photo Credit: Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. from Sharon Farmer)

Today's Albuquerque Journal reports that Kerry will be staying overnight in Albuquerque and will hold a town hall meeting focusing on national security on Friday morning at 9:00 AM at Manzano Mesa Multi-Generational Center in the SE Heights. Attendance at this event will be by invitation only.