Global Weekly Update February 14, 2011
The Foreign Aid Budget Needs Our Support
Even as we are working hard to speak to our members of Congress about preserving and strengthening foreign aid (the International Affairs budget) for fiscal year 2012 (FY12), foreign assistance has been dealt an even more immediate blow. Late Friday evening, the House proposed drastic cuts to final spending levels for the current year (FY11). House leadership has already proposed cutting over $1.8 billion in global health funding, and $1.2 billion in funding that supports education and microfinance programs in the world’s poorest countries.
Consequently, we need to speak to our representatives as soon as possible this week and explain how this move is wrong for the poorest on the planet and how it is wrong for our own nation. Take action today to speak against dramatic cuts in foreign aid for FY11. Please forward this action alert to friends, post it on Facebook and Twitter, and get it out to your action networks.
Additionally, mark your calendars for an informative call. On Thursday, February 17, there will be an information call hosted by John Fawcett on working with the Senate to preserve foreign aid funding for FY11. The call will be held at 9 pm ET. Call (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join.
Share the LOVE through World TB Day Outreach
This Valentine’s Day you were probably thinking about love and how you can make the world a better place. Share your love for RESULTS with others this World TB Day by planning an outreach event on March 24! REF provides you with resources to help you make an impact in your community. RESULTS now has 12 domestic TB experts and patient-advocates to match to your local events (community forums, university panels, rallies, TB walks, media events, or congressional meetings). Contact RESULTS Outreach and Advocacy Associate Crickett Nicovich if you have an upcoming event where you can utilize the skills of these experts. Other opportunities include funding in amounts up to $5,000 for local TB advocacy events through ACTION supported mini-grants and the upcoming launch of a web-based curriculum designed to enroll high school students (and their educators) in TB advocacy. Remember to apply now for a mini-grant! Applications are due by the end of the week. Love conquers all!
Face-to-Face Meetings: A RESULTS Specialty
During this critical fiscal year 2012 appropriations season, face-to-face meetings with members of Congress become that much more important to our advocacy work. Patiently and persistently building trusted relationships with our members of Congress is one of the things that makes RESULTS advocates stand above the crowd, and those relationships enable us to have deeper conversations about our issues. Alongside your regional coordinators, we’ve envisioned a goal of 70 face-to-face meetings with legislators by the end of March. Why not contribute to that total? Congressional recesses will be happening February 21-25 and March 21-25, so those weeks are good opportunities to try for a meeting. Pick up the phone today to schedule your meeting, and begin planning which fiscal year 2012 appropriations asks you’ll bring to the table. For tips on scheduling your meeting and building your agenda, check out our activist milestone on the topic, “Meet Face-to-Face with Your Member of Congress.” You can also contact Ken Patterson, Global Grassroots Manager, or Lisa Marchal, Global Grassroots Associate, for extra support. You can do it, and you’ll be amazed at how empowered you’ll feel once you have your meeting.
Expansion News
We have retooled our group start webpage! The page now includes some basic group start materials, video content, and a calendar of upcoming events. Also included is a list of our newest targeted areas — are you in one?
At the end of this month, Lisa Marchal and Mary Peterson will be conducting group start activities in several areas of Oregon. Please join us for an informal coffee hour at the Starbucks on Siskiyou Blvd. in Ashland to hear more about how we can get a group started in the Rogue Valley on February 24th at 7 pm. If you happen to be in the Corvallis, Oregon area, there will be a group start meeting there on March 1st. Please email Mary Peterson, Global Grassroots Associate for Expansion, for more information or to RSVP.
We are also moving forward with our plans for a group start in Winston-Salem, NC and Black River Falls, WI. If you would like to get in involved or know someone who would please get in touch with Mary Peterson.
We have a new online forum, enabling our grassroots to communicate and collaborate more directly. Check it out on our website.
February 16, March 2, and March 16: New Activist Orientation series continues. 9 pm ET. Call (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. To RSVP or to get more information, contact Lisa Marchal. Join us for the series and get better acquainted with RESULTS!
February 17: Information call on working with the Senate to preserve foreign aid funding for FY11. 9 pm ET. Call (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262.
February 21–25: Congressional Recess
March 8: International Women’s Day
March 12: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709
March 21–25: Congressional Recess
April 9: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709
Other Dates
June 19–21: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, D.C., Four Points Sheraton