Deb

Name:	Deb
Location:	Portland, OR

My personal volunteering highlight:

Election night, 2008. My friends and I gathered at Steph's house as we had many times over the past couple of years. Our group, Democrats of Celebration, had been the driving force behind establishing campaign headquarters for Democrats in Osceola County, FL. In addition, I had made a personal commitment to elect Alan Grayson to Congress from Florida's 8th. After months of registering people to vote, organizing and attending rallies, phone banking, blogging, canvassing, and GOTV, we were about to realize the fruit of our labors. My favorite part of the election season had been getting to know the candidates personally and knowing that we were electing good, progressive Democrats to office. During the election, which lasted weeks instead of one day in Florida, I provided voters with information about judges. It is often difficult to tell which judges are progressives, so voters were happy to have more knowledge about candidates further down the ticket.

We had all been disappointed the past two presidential election nights, so a considerable amount of nail-biting and nervous angst accompanied our hopeful aspirations. Alan's victory was the first to be announced. He won handily! YAY!! It was magical! Next, Obama is the President-elect of the United States. Then one by one, each of our candidates was announced, Malcolm Thompson – County Clerk, Mike Harford – County Commissioner. All of our candidates won!!! As we toasted each of the victories, we became more and more elated:) We were dancing in the street! I was ecstatic and hopeful that night as I continue to be as we seek our way out of the miasma of the past eight years. I will continue to work as a volunteer to elect good people to office.

More about my volunteering with DFA:

In summer of 2004, I traveled to Vermont to volunteer at DFA headquarters in Burlington for a couple of weeks. Over the past five years, I've moved around quite a bit, so I have been active in DFA chapters in Florida, Wisconsin, and Oregon. At the moment I am participating in Stand with Dr. Dean campaign. I sign petitions and collect signatures, communicate with my congressmen, and make contributions whenever I can. Two weeks ago I delivered Dr. Dean's petition to Senator Merkley, Senator Wyden, and Rep. Wu. Even though Senator Wyden answered "Yes" to all my questions, his reply did not ring true. This past Tuesday I delivered the petition to Senator Wyden's office for MoveOn.org. I asked his secretary if the Senator had read Dr. Dean's new book on health care reform, and she was surprised to hear about such a book. How could she not have heard about the book? She said she would suggest that he read it. Perhaps DFA could FedEx a copy to him. I will continue to make sure Senator Wyden is aware of how important the public option is to all of us who do not have health care.

More about my volunteering with progressive organizations:

I'm a member of Alan Grayson for Congress, Democrats of Celebration, MoveOn.org, True Majority, Union of Concerned Scientists, Repower America, NARAL, Human Rights Campaign, Drinking Liberally Portland, Stand for Children, and Campaign for America's Future. I respond to initiatives of the various organizations by attending meetings, signing petitions, collecting signatures, contributing when I can, and participating in events like Million Doors for Peace. My financial situation prevents me from doing some things I would truly like to do such as attend the Campaign for America's Future conference.

More about my work on current campaigns and issues:

I am currently a volunteer with Stand for Children. The mission of SFC is to use the power of grassroots action to help all children get the excellent public education and strong support they need to thrive. Every dollar contributed to Stand for Children in Oregon has delivered $164 in public funding for schools and other children's programs - a remarkable return on investment. Politically, children have no representation except through organizations like this one. I help organize students, parents, and educators to collectively speak out to legislators to solve problems facing our schools. To see a short video about Stand for Children in Oregon, you may go here http://www.stand.org/Page.aspx?pid=776

What motivates me:

Children. My children and all children. I have three wonderful sons who have grown up to be well-educated, patriotic, caring citizens. My oldest, who began working in publishing, has had his job outsourced three times in nine years. Each time he gets a little ahead, he loses his job, loses all he has accumulated, and must embark on another career path. My youngest son is a brilliant nuclear/civil engineer who served in the war in Afghanistan. Although he is now out of the military, he is not out of the woods. He has not worked in over a year, and I worry about him every day. My middle son, with whom I now live, is a doctor. He treats seriously ill patients, many of whom would have benefited greatly from preventive care. He is a progressive in favor of the public option so that all people are eligible for quality healthcare, including his unemployed mother and brothers.

This is not the future I had envisioned for my children. I taught them that a good education and hard work would ensure a secure future. Now we must fight for things we once took for granted. Restoring what we once had – good jobs and access to healthcare -- and making a better life for our children motivates me to stay active politically. I realize that in order for my vision of America to be a reality I must work to elect officials who share my vision. It took me a while to get it, but now I realize that democracy is not a spectator sport. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” (Wendell Phillips, 1852)

How I try to motivate others:

As a member of Democrats of Celebration (DOC), I participate in activities to benefit the community during the time between elections. I was captain of our Relay for Life team that raised oodles of money for the American Cancer Society. I'm most proud of my “Movies That Matter” series. I got the idea when Democracy for America provided us with a DVD about the war in Iraq. It was so successful that I suggested that we educate ourselves and the community through movies. We watched “Kilowatt Ours” and several other environmental films. Our showing of “Who Killed the Electric Car” brought in Republicans. That meeting ended with the creation of the Celebration Electric Car Club. We also sponsor an environmental fair each fall. Doing good things for the community, educating ourselves, and maintaining a schedule of activities and events keeps us active and in touch between campaigns. We publicize our activities in the local newspaper and invite everyone to attend our meetings and events. Even though I'm all the way across the country in Oregon now, I was voted to continue on the Board of Directors of DOC for my work on Movies that Matter.

Winning elections and staying in touch with our elected officials is a great motivator, too.

Where I see myself in five years:

Five years from now I hope to be gainfully employed in a progressive society at peace with the world -- with quality healthcare for all, excellent public schools, a stable financial market, a robust middle class, and a “green” environment. I hope to be in a position of influence to abolition the damaging influences of NCLB on public education and to expose Teach for America for the GOP shill that it is. (Please don't shoot the messenger.) I want to establish a professional teacher's organization to replace unions like NEA and AFT as the face of education, an organization that will bring dignity and honor to the profession of teaching and an excellent education to America's children.

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

People Powered Healthcare. Stand with Dr. Dean!