Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts 1) Help Reunite Families: During the evacuation, mothers -- almost exclusively African American -- had to choose between remaining with older children and carrying infants to safety. Extended families boarded separate buses, unsure of their fate, only to find themselves separated by thousands of miles and trapped in shelters with no way out. Husbands and wives, parents and children, now in shelters, have to endure the continuing trauma of separation. You can reunite a family today by helping buy one-way airline tickets to families in shelters identified by the NAACP, ACORN and other groups on the ground. Go to: naacp.org or acorn.org 2)Bankruptcy Coverage for Victims: Rep. John Conyers (D -VA) is introducing a law to amend the Bankruptcy Code so that the most onerous provisions of the new law, scheduled to take effect October 17, do not inflict damage on the millions of victims of Hurricane Katrina and their families. Write our federal reps to ask them to support the bill. 3) Send a message to Congress and the President demanding that the federal government act now to fully fund the health care, housing, nutrition, employment and education needs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Demand a bipartisan investigation into the failure of the government's response to this disaster. Demand that President Bush rescind his executive order - the people cleaning up & rebuilding our Gulf coast deserve to be paid fairly. Ensure that the communities devastated by Katrina have full input into the rebuilding process, not just the wealthy developers. Go to: unionvoice.org/campaign/katrinajustice/ek36ww2p763btk? 4)No Time For More Tax Cuts For The Wealthiest Americans: Tell Sen. Leahy, Sen. Jeffords and Bernie this is no time for more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans nor for cutting spending for the poorest Americans. Providing sufficient resources for Medicaid, food stamps, or other programs that serve the poorest and most vulnerable people in our communities should have priority over tax cuts. Urge your members of Congress to oppose more tax cuts for the wealthiest and spending cuts for the poorest when they draft and consider the budget reconciliation bills in September. 5)National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has launched the Disaster Relief Fund to provide immediate assistance to the worst -affected victims and mobilize resources to feed, clothe and shelter displaced victims in the worst affected areas. Go to: naacp.org 6) Camp Casey in Louisiana: Needs: WATER, WATER, WATER, ice chests with ice, baby supplies (diapers, formula, ointments), low fat powdered milk, canned foods, fresh fruit, gasoline, additional generators, shelter, flash lights, portable toilets. Deliveries to: Louisiana Activist Network and the VFP Chapter 116, 124 E 14th Street, Covington, LA 70433 7)Habitat for Humanity: Following Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic strike on the Gulf Coast, Habitat for Humanity International announced an emergency appeal for funds to help Habitat families and other low-income families in the affected areas recover and rebuild. Go to: habitat.org/disaster/2005/katrina/ 8) AFSC: The AFSC is working with the Mennonite Central Committee and others to identify where the most need is and to respond to that. We are also raising up the issue of racism in the reporting of the disaster and in the fact that the most vulnerable population, poor and African American, was left out of the emergency planning before it occurred and to left deal with this disaster alone as it unfolded. www.afsc.org or donatefast.com/donate/index.cfm?id=afcrisis 9) TrueMajority is working with Community Labor United (CLU), a coalition of community groups that for nine years has worked in what are now the hardest-hit neighborhoods of New Orleans. Go to: http://www.truemajority.org/katrina_alert.html 10) Mississippi Workers' Center Southern Relief Fund for Hurricane Katrina Victims; The fund is titled: Mississippi Workers' Center Southern Relief Fund for Hurricane Katrina Victims. This is a separate fund, which will be used only for the purpose of providing relief to hurricane victims. Checks should be made payable to: Southern Relief Fund c/o Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights, PO Box 1223, Greenville, MS 38702-1223 |
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Tell friends, family, neighbors, co-workers about up-coming peace and justice events. You can find information about events through our Calendar link of this website (www.centralvermontpeace.org) or by joining our email list of calendar updates (contact info@centralvermontpeace.org) Post posters about upcoming events around your town. You can download our posters off the Calendar link of the website and print out as many copies as you want. Develop a list of places to hang posters in your town – most libraries and many post offices have community bulletin boards open to the public. Find out which shops will allow you to post flyers. Every time a new event is scheduled, spread the word by getting posters up and about any and everywhere you can. Remember, we are trying to reach everyone – not just those people who are tied into the peace and justice movement. To help get your friends, neighbors, co-workers to attend events, offer to carpool. This not only saves energy, it also gives you a chance to talk with them before and after events. |
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Participate in the grassroots campaign to tell President Bush, "If you are going to send something to Iraq, it should be food, not bombs." For more info: http://www.riceforpeace.org |
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Donate Time, Money, Ideas or Goods: Central Vermont Peace and Justice is a community and we can only meet our goals and mission with your support. All donations to Central Vermont Peace and Justice can be sent to 74 Baxter Street, Rutland Vermont 05701. If you would like your donation to be tax-deductible, please contact us beforehand. As well, if you would like to host or organize a fundraising event, please contact us at info@centralvermontpeace.org. We can always use new ideas for future projects and programs, and thoughts on how to improve our efforts and sustain ourselves as a community. Send us an email (info@centralvermontpeace.org) or come to one of our monthly meetings (second Thursday of each month) and let us hear your voice. At any event we host, there are ways in which you can volunteer. From handing out fliers to introducing a speaker to welcoming people as they come in the door. Please let us know if you can spare the time and volunteer. We always have a need for colored paper for copying, printer ink, permanent markers, funds for printing and copying flyers. By lending or donating these goods you’ll help us keep our programs successful. |
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Send letters to your local and national representatives. Contact Info: Leahy: 800-642-3193, 802-863-2525; D.C.- (202) 224-4242; senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov Jeffords-:800-835-5500, 802-658-6001; D.C. (202) 244-5141; vermont@jeffords.senate.gov Sanders: 800-339-9834, 802-862-0697; D.C.- (202) 225-4115; bernie@mail.house.gov Write President Bush at White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20500. For sample letters to send check out Peace Action: http://www.peace-action.org/home/nounity.html For sample talking points on Iraq, see: Talking Points, by Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/Iraq/bennisiraq.htm |
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Let yourself be heard. Ask questions. Call into a local radio program. Make an appointment with your State Senator, Governor or town Mayor. Some local call in shows: WGDR: Most shows allow call ins: 454 - 7762 WDEV ( 550 AM and 96.1 FM): 1-877-291-8255 or 244-1777. The Mark Johnson Show, 9 - 11 AM. Programming schedule: www.markjohnsonshow.com True North, 11 am -12 pm with Laurie Morrow (because this program promotes a right wing conservative agenda, it is important to call in) Equal Time with Anthony Pollina , Tuesday - Friday ,1 - 2 (accepts call-ins). CHANNEL17: hosts LIVE -5:25 pm call in show every weeknight with political figures from all over the community and spectrum. WTNK 99.7 FM: Arnie Arnesen Talk Show (Lebanon and the Upper Valley) also: WUVR 1490 AM and WTPL 107.7 FM ; weekdays 12-3pm; call - 866-823-1077
Show your desire for a peaceful solution to our current crisis. Wear a peace button. Hang a peace flag. Wear a tshirt. Put a bumper sticker on your car. Central Vermont Peace and Justice has bumpers tickers, tshirts, and lawnsigns for sale. Check out our STUFF TO BUY link on our home page. Peace Flags can be purchased from: High Flying Flag Co. P.O. Box 606 Greenland, NH 03840-0606 Phone: (603) 431-6676 Peace Pins and Buttons can be ordered from: http://donnellycolt.com/catalog/peacesticker.html http://www.syrculturalworkers.com
Claim your Home or Business as a Place for Peace: War Resisters League has two great downloadable flyers, including coupons to leave for businesses you patronize urging them to post a flyer in their windows claiming their store as a Business for Peace. For more copies of the flyers see: http://www.warresisters.org/demo_flyers.htm
Write of your concerns, your questions and your opinions on how to create global justice and peace. Most newspaper requirements for letters to the editor are that they be submitted in the text of an email rather than as an attachment, that they be addressed to the editor, and that they be limited to 200-400 words. Be sure to include your name, address and telephone number so the paper can verify you as the author. Some contacts for submitting letters to the editor are: Rutland Herald: letters@rutlandherald.com or on-line at: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=SERVICES07 Times Argus: letters@timesargus.com online at: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=OPINION03 Vermont Guardian: online at http://www.vermontguardian.com/commentary/commentary.shtml Hill Country Observer: fdaley@hillcountryobserver.com Boston Globe: letter@globe.com New York Times: letters@nytimes.com Washington Post: letters@washpost.com
Host a potluck dinner and invite friends to share around the table their thoughts, concerns and wishes for a more peaceful world. There is nothing like a good meal shared between neighbors to strengthen a community. For information on Food Not Bombs cooperatives feeding activists for over 20 years visit: http://www.foodnotbombs.net/
Another way to have yourself counted among those standing for peaceful solutions. Here’s a few to look into: AFSC Campaign of Conscience Peace Pledge: http://www.afsc.org Iraq Peace Pledge: http://www.peacepledge.org
Abraham Lincoln said, "Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors to bullets." So, make sure you are counted. This is your democracy. If you are not already, register to vote at your local town office today.
Spread your message in chalk on your city sidewalks.
Donate a Health-Kit to an Iraqi family: The American Friends Service Committee has organized a campaign to bring simple hygiene materials to needy Iraqi families. To participate, the AFSC request the following materials along with $5.00 for shipping costs be sent to: AFSC, Emergency and Material Assistance Program, 5 Longfellow Park Cambridge, MA 02138. Checks can be made out to: AFSC: Emergency and Material Assistance Program. For more information of the campaign see: The requested items are: 4 bars of soap & 1 plastic bottle of shampoo (13 - 24 ounce size or 450 - 830 milliliters). Place in plastic bag. 1 tube of toothpaste (minimum 8 ounces or 100 milliliters), 4 adult-size toothbrushes (leave in packaging), 1 hairbrush, 1 wide-tooth comb, 1 finger nail clipper and 1 box of adhesive bandages (minimum 40, assorted preferred).
Participate in a March, Rally, or Vigil: There is power in our collective action. Check the Central Vermont Peace and Justice calendar for local and national events you can participate in. We also vigil every Friday from noon to 1pm at Main Street Park, Routes 4/7 in Rutland. Please join us.
Donate books or magazine subscriptions to your local public and/or school libraries in the name of peace. There are many wonderful publications out there providing viewpoints and histories of alternatives to war. If you are looking for suggestions of materials to donate contact Central Vermont Peace and Justice at info@centralvermontpeace.org
The Council on American Islamic Relations has begun a program to provide a collection of materials on Islam and Arab society to libraries at a low cost. Adopt your local library today and make a donation! See for more info: http://www.cair-net.org
Read alternative news and media publications. Find out about the history of non-violent action and protest in America. Learn about other countries. Attend a service at a local synagogue, meeting house, church or mosque. And most importantly ask questions and share what you’ve learned with friends and family. "No matter what our attempts to inform, it is our ability to inspire that will turn the tides." --Artist/Activist, Jan Phillips
Organize a teach-in. Teach-ins are informational gathering designed to help individuals better understand particular issues of public interest. Contact your school & community educators and activists, and host open workshops and discussion groups around issues affecting your life. For more information on organizing a teach-in please contact us or check the tips pages of: Sojourners magazine: http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.teachin Student Peace Action: http://www.studentpeaceaction.org/teach-in.html
Monitor Military Access and Involvement in your Schools and Community: Currently under the No Child Left Behind Act, passed by the Bush administration in 2002, is a provision requiring public secondary schools to provide military recruiters access to facilities and to contact information for every student, or face a cutoff of all federal aid. The only way a student’s personal information and records can be withhold from recruiters is if the students or their parents make the request to their school administration. Educate your school board, parent-teacher associations, student council and fellow students and parents about their ability to opt-out of this violation of youth rights. For an article about this provision in the act visit: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14716 Join efforts for a balanced education about war in our schools. The study of militarism is taught in our schools through Junior Reserve Training Corps (JROTC) and often without a balance of peaceful alternatives and histories in the classroom. For information on how to order a JROTC organizing packet visit: http://www.afsc.org
Become a Conscientious Objector: According to the American Friends Service Committee a conscientious objector "is someone who has sincere, deeply-held beliefs that make him or her object to fighting in war." Do you have all the information you need to make a decision to enlist or not? Educate yourself. Talk to veterans in your community about their experiences. Contact your local Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. Talk to Veterans now working for peace: http://www.afsc.org Contact the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors and read their tips on what you should know before you enlist: http://www.objector.org/before-you-enlist.htm Ask the youth-workers at the AFSC-National Youth and Militarism Program about your options. For their contact info visit, http://www.afsc.org. Your choice will affect the rest of your life.
It's part of a wider campaign called Exxpose Exxon, and is sponsored by the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Union of Concerned Scientists, Defenders of Wildlife, US Public Interest Research Group, and other national environmental organizations. Why? Because Exxon is the worst of the worst. It: funds over 40 think tanks that use the media to convince the public that it's not as bad as the worldwide consensus of scientists believes. It doesn't make significant investments in renewable energy technology. Exxon is the one oil company willing to drill and extract oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It hasn't paid billions of dollars owed from the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement. For now, buy CITGO gas which is owned by and comes from Venezuela. For more info see: http://www.sierraclub.org/exxposeexxon/
Explore Transportation and Energy Alternatives: Ride a bike. Walk. Carpool. Take a local bus or train. Learn about solar and wind power for your home. Decrease our dependence as a community on foreign sources of food, water, energy & fuel, and increase our sustainable as a healthy community. For regional information on alternative energy and fuel options see: New England Electric Auto Association http://neeaa.org Solectria Alternative energy and transportation systems http://www.Solectria.com Sunweaver solar energy alternatives http://www.sunweavers.com Sundance solar energy products http://www.sundancesolar.com Envirotecture architects http://www.greenpages.org/detail.cfm?List_Key=12986 Sustainable Energy Association http://www.nesea.org New England Renewable Energy Festival http://www.solarfest.org Recycline, Inc. http://www.recycline.com
How free is our free market? Wars are often waged for control of resources and trade markets. By supporting the fair trade movement between nations and cultures, you support a more peaceful and humane world. For resources on alternative economies and fair trade see: Fair Trade Resource Network http://www.fairtraderesource.org Global Trade Watch http://www.citizen.org/trade Grassroots Economic Organizing Newsletter http://www.geonewsletter.org
Know your rights! The American Civil Liberties Union has created helpful resources to help you know where you stand. Here are a links to a few: ACLU Bustcard
Support American-Arab and Muslim families in your area: We will only be free as individuals when our freedoms are guaranteed for our entire community. Gain a greater understanding of what it means to be American and Muslim. Invite members of a local mosque to share services with your church or synagogue. Express your opinion against the mass arrests of immigrants since 9-11. See the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Action Alert webpage for more info: http://www.capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=1122716
Toni Cade Bambara wrote, "The role of the revolutionary artist is to make revolution irresistible." Art bridges all communities. It feeds our heart and soul. Express your vision of peace. Create a public mural, draw a picture, take pictures and create a collage, design a bumper sticker or T-shirt, participate in political theater, write a song, paint a banner, make puppets! For more info on the Cheap Art movement and other art projects around peace and politics see: Bread and Puppet Theater http://www.theaterofmemory.com/art/bread/bread.html Puppeteers’ Cooperative Home Page http://www.gis.net/~puppetco/ Virtual Museum of Political Art http://www.medicalnet.at/horvath/museum.htm Students’ Art for Peace project: Brandenton, Florida http://www.art-for-peace.org Visions of Peace children©ˆs art project http://www.celebratingpeace.com/Visions.htm Teaching Tolerance Songbook for Young Peacemakers http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/songbook/index.jsp Poets Against the War http://poetsagainstthewar.org/
Our brothers and sisters in Maine have been coordinating bridge vigils throughout the state. We can do the same. For more information on the Maine Peace Bridges project visit:
A.J. Muste said, " The two decisive powers the of the government with respect to war are the power to conscript and the power to tax." We are indelibly linked to our government’s ability to wage war through the taxes we pay. Refusing to pay war taxes has a long history in America. Such patriots who refused to pay their war taxes include Henry David Thoreau and Arthur Evans. For more information of the history of tax resistance and current resistance movements visit: National War Tax Resisters Coordinating Committee: http://www.nwtrcc.org or War Resisters League-War Tax Resistance: http://www.warresisters.org/wtr_menu.htm
Check our calendar for a listing of events, then describe your opinion of the experience in a letter to an editor (See the Write an Editorial section for newspaper contacts for submission), or in your own news report to an independent media center or news outlet.
Watch/Listen to Alternative Media: Listen to “Democracy Now” on WJSC 90.7 FM, Johnson; WGDR 91.1 FM, Plainfield; WDEV 550 AM; and 96.1 FM, Waterbury "Down By the Riverside" is a cable TV show that broadcasts most peace and justice events in the Montpelier area. Wed. (Adelphia); Mon. (Charter Cable) "Salaam / Shalom" a weekly report on Palestine/Israel by Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel. Friday eve: 8:00-9:00 PM - LIVE; call-in Tues.: 1:30 AM Tues: 10:00 AM; Wed: 4:00 PM. On Adelphia Cable Channel 15, Vermont Community Access Media (VCAM), Burlington area. For info: VTJP.org Dish Network channel 9415 Free Speech TV (FSTV) and channel 9410 Link TV. FSTV carries Democracy Now multiple times daily For info: freespeech.org/ and worldlinktv.org/
"Don’t hate the media, become the media!" -Jello Biafra CHANNEL 17: Offers free training and equipment use to people wanting to make programs on public affairs and political issues to air on the channel. They work with activists and issues oriented folks on how to focus, target and implement strategies to "get the word out" about what they are working on.
Join/Start a Video or Book Discussion Club: Through community discussion of these issues we all come closer to a peaceful solution. Start a neighbor discussion group at your own home, church or public library. Also many excellent videos and films are available from the AFSC Library. To view their catalog and rent individual titles visit: |
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