U.S. Poverty Weekly Update | December 20, 2016


December 20, 2016

U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | December 20, 2016

“Over this past Thanksgiving while looking forward to the many treats and delights of the coming holiday season, I, and many others, have the luxury of complaining about "watching our weight" and "avoiding holiday weight gain." Yet many others, including 1 in 8 Marylanders, are food-insecure, and don't get enough nutritious food to put on their holiday table or everyday table.”

– RESULTS Baltimore volunteer Lior Miller in a December 6 letter to the editor in the Baltimore Sun

In This Week’s Update:


Got Two Minutes? Make One Last Media Push Before the Holidays (December Action)

Make one last push to demand Congress protect critical anti-poverty programs. With new congressional leadership looking to make drastic changes to the safety net, it is imperative that we let them know that cutting poverty programs is the wrong path for our country. You can do that by generating media right before the holidays. With lots of talk in your local papers about the new Trump Administration, not to mention that this is the time of year when people think about those struggling to make ends meet, you should have plenty of “hooks’ to use for letters to the editor.

In addition, with 181 media pieces published this year, RESULTS volunteers are 16 pieces away from besting our media total of 2015 (197). Piece of cake. In fact, you can hit 200 by the end of the year. Think of walking into the meetings during our First 100 Days Campaign next year and telling your members of Congress that you and in 2016 your fellow volunteers generated 200 media pieces holding your members of Congress accountable for their work on reducing poverty in America. And that you’re prepared to do the same and more in 2017.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to send in a letter to the editor telling your members of Congress by name to protect critical anti-poverty programs. If you have not sent in a letter to the editor this month, please do so today. If you have sent in a letter, send in another one (to the same paper or a different one). Use our new protecting the safety net letter to the editor alert or alerts specifically focused on protecting SNAP or expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). If you want to draft your own letter, see the December Action for talking points and our Media Guide for media outlets in your state.

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Got Ten Minutes? Start Your First 100 Days Campaign Off Right – Set Up Meetings Now

RESULTS has launched an ambitious campaign to have 100 percent of RESULTS volunteers and Free Agents meet with their congressional offices face-to-face in the first 100 days of 2017. Our First 100 Days Campaign will help you shape the congressional agenda for next year. If members of Congress do not hear from their constituents on policies that reduce poverty, they could do real harm to millions of families around the country.  Don’t let that happen.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to get started now on your local First 100 Days Campaign. Request face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress (both House and Senate). Use our Elected Officials page or Election Guide to find contact information for returning and new members of Congress. For language to use in your requests, use our online lobby meeting request form. Contact Jos Linn ([email protected]) if you need help with scheduling your meetings. Once you get a meeting scheduled, contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to set up a lobby prep call to get you ready. You can also find our updated Lobby Requests on our website.

And if you want to ensure a powerful follow-up meeting with your representatives and senators later in the year, join us for the RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC next summer (July 22-25). Registration for the Conference is now open!

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Got Two Weeks? Happy Holidays, Rest Up, and Get Ready for a Busy 2017!

Thank you all for a great 2016 in your advocacy work with RESULTS. Here are a few highlights of your accomplishments on RESULTS’ U.S. Poverty Campaigns this year:

  • 80 House face-to-face meetings and 42 Senate face-to-face meetings (a new record for Senate meetings!)
  • 95 outreach meetings and fundraisers (and counting
  • 7 new RESULTS groups (plus 1 group restart), taking our total to 40 U.S. Poverty groups (also a new record) that cover 37 states
  • 181 media pieces, which includes 151 letters, 12 op-eds, 4 editorials, and 14 other media

Congratulations! You once again prove that when people get involved in their own democracy, they get things done.

TAKE ACTION: Take two weeks to rest and reflect on your successes of 2016. Enjoy time with friends and family during the holidays and gets lots of rest. Then come back in January well-rested and re-energized to flex your advocacy muscles for the protection of America’s most vulnerable.

Thank you all and happy holidays!

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Spread the Word about RESULTS Online or at Your Next Holiday Party!

Have your friends been talking about what they can do now? Have your Facebook feed and holiday-time conversations drifted from talk of cookies and cocoa to questions and calls to action? Share one of our social media posts, perhaps with this great visual or this powerful post by RESULTS activist Yara Slaton, to engage your networks. If you missed last week’s webinar, give a listen to "After the Election: How to Talk About RESULTS" so you are ready for those opportunities to talk up your great work!

Have time to work on a longer piece? Tailor our sample op-ed to tell others in your community how to get involved.


Upcoming Events

Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.

Upcoming staff vacations: Jos Linn, December 16 (1pm ET) – January 2; Kristy Martino, December 21 – January 2; Meredith Dodson, December 21 – January 2.

RESULTS Offices closed, Saturday, December 24 – Monday, January 2. Happy Holidays!

RESULTS Introductory Call, Monday, Wednesday, January 11 at 9:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an Intro Call on the RESULTS website.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Saturday, January 14 at 12:30 pm ET.  Listen to previous webinars on our National Webinars page.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, January 17 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login in at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.

RESULTS International Conference, Saturday, July 22 – Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC. Registration is now open!

If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Vanessa Garcia at [email protected]. You can view the most recently published minutes from Board meetings on the RESULTS website, as well as download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.

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