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MorePeaceCorps Holiday House Parties are here! Host one on Saturday, December 6, 2008!
On Saturday, December 6, 2008, the MorePeaceCorps Campaign will throw holiday house parties with the goal of raising $35,000 to support the MorePeaceCorps campaign in 2009. We hope you can host one! It will be fun and easy to pull off. MPC will use the funds generated to build the campaign, and to hire on-the-ground coordinators in states to mobilize a powerful legislative outreach efforts in 2009. A coalition of generous MorePeaceCorps supporters will match a portion of the contributions on a dollar-for-dollar basis!
The MPC holiday fundraisers build on the success of the Hundred House Parties Campaign which rocked the world on September 6th with 2,000 participants in 42 states and 14 countries. We are hoping this initiative is at least as successful as 100 House Parties.
Click here to download the Organizer’s Toolkit for hosts.
Email Campaign Coordinator, Rajeev Goyal (Nepal 01-03) at rajeev@morepeacecorps.org to learn more.
MorePeaceCorps Gears up for post-election phase and 2009
Where do we go from here? With the both major presidential candidates on record to expand Peace Corps, twenty countries without volunteers queued up to obtain PCVs and the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Peace Corps just ahead, this is the best opportunity we’ve had to grow the Peace Corps. However, it is not enough for the next president to support expansion, as both Barack Obama and John McCain have done. Congressional support and action is also needed. The MorePeaceCorps Campaign is working with its activist network to create champions in the House and Senate, including on authorizing and appropriating subcommittees. In 2002, President Bush pledged in his State of the Union message to double the Peace Corps, but the RPCV community was dormant. Through inaction, we missed a great opportunity.
Through outreach to both presidential campaigns, we’ve created another opportunity. We can’t let this one pass. Our challenge is not to overcome opposition; few if any Members of Congress oppose growing the Peace Corps. Rather, we have to make this opportunity stand out from the hundreds of other requests for new or expanded funding that will be jostling for priority attention.
By November 15, 2008, MorePeaceCorps will post its 2009 campaign plan and budget.
Campus Day of Action a Major Success. Over 1,500 signatures Collected!
On the 48th anniversary of JFK’s historic speech at the University of Michigan urging young people to join the Peace Corps, hundreds of students across the nation participated in the MPC Nationwide Campus Day of Action, signing letters to Senators McCain and Obama urging their leadership in PC expansion. We have generated hundreds of signatures already! Please print out this letter, collect signatures and fax to 202.293.7554 by Thursday, October 30.
Click here to read an inspirational statement by Judith Guskin (Thailand 61-64) who 48 years ago wrote JFK urging him to create the Peace Corps.
Leaf Season for MorePeaceCorps: Campaign travels to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts (September 30 – October 6)
MorePeaceCorps Coordinator Rajeev Goyal met with over 100 former volunteers in Bennington (VT), Burlington (VT), Middlebury (VT), Concord (NH), Williamstown (MA) and Boston (MA). Ambassador (ret) Tom Hull (Sierra Leone 68-70) led a discussion on the importance of expanding the Peace Corps before a group of students and former volunteers at Simmons College. Dozens of former volunteers wrote letters to Senator Leahy (VT), chair of the subcommittee that recommends PC funding levels, and to Senator Judd Gregg (NH), the ranking member on the subcommittee.
The Campaign is looking for volunteers to organize similar gatherings across the country. If we can raise sufficient funds at the Holiday House Parties on December 6th, we’ll also hire regional organizers to help build support among newly elected and incumbent Senators and Representatives. Please help by contributing online, joining the campaign at www.MorePeaceCorps.org and signing up to host a House Party.
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