Pam

Name:	Pam
Location:	Hays, KS

My personal volunteering highlight:

I do many things both online and on the ground. It's an everyday effort. For example, my site (where I am editor-in-chief), EverydayCitizen.com now has over 85 bloggers, over 800,000 visitors per month and between 1,200 and 4,000 visitors per hour. That's pretty good traffic for a new site.

I also worked hard to make it possible for eleven (11) of our EverydayCitizen bloggers to attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention last August. That was a highlight for us. The DNC also awarded us 3 press passes (including a floor pass) that I shared among my team.

What about my on-the-ground activism? Well, I've spearheaded many MoveOn demonstrations, such as hosting Press Conferences on the courthouse steps or delivering petitions to Senator and Congressmen offices, always with great media coverage.

I'm active in the Democratic Party, member of the 1st District Advisory Committee, and Elected Committeewoman at the state level and Precinct Committeewoman. I've accepted responsibility too for grassroots organizing in a state Senate District - leading some efforts to help Democratic parties get started at the county levels and providing them ongoing organizational support. I'm also helping to start a Young Democrats party at the local high school - a first in this red area. I also canvass, phone bank, build candidate websites, and much more!

More about my volunteering with DFA:

I'd like to one day soon bring a DFA campaign training to my congressional district. I'm already helping our district party chair organize campaigns and parties in this very geographically large (69 counties) red district. A DFA campaign training would be a tremendously valuable way to strengthen our current grassroots organizing efforts out here.

More about my volunteering with progressive organizations:

I have offered expertise, talent, time and effort to campaigns of all kinds. I've done grassroots work for the local Democratic Party, the Congressional District Democratic Party, the state Democratic Party, the DNC, and others, including issue oriented campaigns and orgs. I usually get involved whenever I discover that my leadership abilities or unique skills are needed - or even if all that's needed is a helping hand.

What motivates me:

I agree with Noam Chomsky: "If you go to one demonstration and then go home, that's something, but the people in power can live with that. What they can't live with is sustained pressure that keeps building, organizations that keep doing things, people that keep learning lessons from the last time and doing it better the next time."

Even though I am certainly able to vote, to speak, to write, to engage - I am always so acutely aware that many in our society cannot speak out for themselves.

Unfortunately, many times those without voices (such as the very young, our senior citizens, the disabled, the poor, members of oppressed groups, the marginalized) endure unnecessary hardship and face sometimes insurmountable obstacles - simply because their voices cannot be heard or taken seriously in the public debates or political processes. I am primarily motivated because I want to help more people have a voice in our democracy. I encourage people to get involved, and when they cannot, I want to use my voice and my talents, whenever possible or necessary, to speak out on behalf of those that are unable to speak out for themselves. I wish to stand for those who cannot.

I know that community organizing does make a difference. Whenever everyday people decide to become part of any democratic process, problems definitely get solved, and things do change. Ultimately, the most important result of grassroots action is a strengthened democracy for all of us.

I am also motivated by the condition our nation is in today - we have a need for universal healthcare, jobs, equality. The enormous damage that many misguided policies have done in our country in recent years may take decades to undo - and in the meantime - we cannot allow any backsliding. We must not only advocate for policies but also watch our government carefully.

It's going to take smart people - everyday people - and policy makers - all working together relentlessly on multiple fronts simultaneously. I know that I am needed. I also know that so many others are needed. Therefore, if I stay active and continue to encourage others to be active, we will have a far better chance of making things right. We have a long way to go, and, I'm not going to give up.

I believe that citizen actions give much needed hope to countless others, some of whom have no voice of their own.

That's my motivation.

How I try to motivate others:

As Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation."

I agree. I believe that citizens can change the world we live in - at all levels - at the community level, the government level - and yes, even globally. I have served as leader of many organizations during my life. I've learned that when you believe in the importance of your own contributions and efforts, others will come to, in turn, believe in their own. Optimism is contagious. Effort multiplies itself.

I'm a real believer in the concept that we "are all in this together" and I know it does no one any good if a few of us make it to the finish line without the others.

We are all needed now! So, every day, I work hard to motivate people to write, to engage, to make efforts.

Optimism is essential. When people anywhere say, "The problem is too big and my effort is too small" - I encourage them to make the effort anyway, for themselves, for their own conscience, for their own self-esteem. Normally, action begets action.

Once people get a taste of the exhilaration and the feeling of accomplishment of taking a small action - they are ready for the next opportunity to take an action. That's when it's incumbent upon leaders to be there - ready to suggest the next move, ask for a suggestion, and applaud the steps taken.

To most people, politics isn't about horse races or individual politicians - it's about the world we live in, what we believe in and how we want our world to behave.

Most people wish to serve one another and wish to "do good" for and with one another. However, the ugliness, greed, and self-serving behaviors of many politicians have turned many good citizens away from wanting to contribute politically. Many good people have been derailed from the natural inclination to be politically active. Still, I find that once given opportunities to be active again, to make a difference again, to believe in change - most will enjoy activism and seek new opportunities to engage.

The work itself can be self-perpetuating once set in motion!

People pay attention especially when you are fueled for action by your heart, your knowledge, or your convictions.

I have found that many other people are just as ready as I am to do whatever it takes to make our country better. Sometimes motivating others is accomplished simply by asking them to help.

Where I see myself in five years:

I see myself as the perennial organizer.

My suggested bumper sticker slogan for the Stand with Dr. Dean campaign:

True Patriots Stand Together Through Sickness and in Health