Tag Archives: volunteers

Obama Organizing Fellows….I got accepted…

Today, I found out that I got accepted as an Organizing Fellow (unpaid) for Barack Obama’s campaign.

Even though it is unpaid and for some people that is a deal breaker, it just feels right to be able to participate in the Obama Organizing Fellows program.  

Since I live in Southern California, I chose Nevada (California is not a choice), because it is a swing state in the upcoming election for the location of my Fellowship.

Normally, I would be working, but since I got laid off a few months ago, I have some extra time (no pun intended).  So this is the perfect opportunity for me to go out there and support Obama’s campaign.  Plus, I also know Spanish, so I KNOW I can use my Spanish skills in Nevada.  

The training will start between June 14th-16th and it runs until ~July 26th.    I’m pretty sure, the campaign will be able to provide housing, as i’ve heard that the Obama campaign is pretty good about providing housing for volunteers.  

The only thing I need to worry about know is having enough money to eat, but somehow i’ll manage even if it’s cup-o-noodles and water for the whole month.  

Wish me luck, and i’m accepting donations for my cup-o-noodles rations :).    

Here is the letter:

Congratulations!

   We’ve reviewed your fellowship application, and I am pleased to offer you admission into the Obama Organizing Fellows program.

   Although Barack will campaign vigorously in all 50 states, our need for fellows is particularly high in certain states, and we strongly encourage you to relocate to one of these high-need states to participate in the program.

   The program in these high-need states will begin with a training from June 14th to June 16th. Afterwards, fellows will organize for Barack in communities in these states through July 26th.

   To accept this offer of admission, you must fill out this form and let us know where you can participate in the program by Thursday at 5:00 p.m. CST:

   Should you be unable to relocate to one of these selected states, you will still be able to participate in your home state, but the program will begin in mid-July and run through the end of August.

   Fellows who participate in high-need states will be given special priority should employment opportunities arise at the conclusion of the program.

   If you accept this offer and join the program in one of our high-need states, someone from the campaign will call you next week to welcome you personally, discuss further details, and answer any questions you have. If you accept in another state, someone from the campaign will call you closer to the time of the start of the program to discuss the details further.

   Thank you for all that you’ve done — we look forward to meeting you and working with you in the weeks and months ahead.

   Jon

   Jon Carson

   Voter Contact Director

   Obama for America

If you would like to donate here is my direct link for Paypal (I will only use what I need, if there’s any left over, I will use it to help others in the program as well):



https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin…

I will also accept food donations ( I will share those as well with the other Obama Organizing Fellows):  E-mail me at: [email protected] and I will send you my address.

If you would like to offer housing to an Obama Organizing Fellow, here is the link on the Obama site: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/fellowshousing

Shouldn’t Volunteering Be Voluntary?

(Go ahead and join the discussion on this topic on The Liberal OC… There are plenty more words of wisdom to be found! : ) – promoted by atdleft)

OK, get ready for this… I AGREE WITH A REPUBLICAN AGAIN! This time, it’s about SB 227. Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) wants to mandate community service for high school graduation, and GOP consultant Adam Probolsky speaks out against this bill in “The Orange Grove” column in today’s OC Register. And you know what? I agree with him here:

The first thing that struck me about this legislation was its complete ignorance or misunderstanding of the high school student mind. Harman wants teenagers to learn to appreciate community service. So what does he do? He makes it an obligation. I don’t know about you, but my high school classes were monotonous, the homework was annoying, and I worked part time. Community service? Well, I left that up to the kids who felt they needed to supplement their otherwise unremarkable college applications. If I were required to complete community service, like one of my wayward colleagues avoiding Juvenile Hall, I probably would have resented every second of it.

Sure, it seems high-minded to require high schoolers to get out and learn some valuable lessons about community service… But does this really accomplish that goal? I doubt it, and I’ll let a good friend of mine tell you why after the flip…

People that support high school slavery programs like SB227 believe that service learning gives students a chance to realize the need of their community and helps the students appreciate the reward of charitable work. In truth, the forced servitude erodes the spirit of charitable work, and generates a disdain for community service in the hearts of young people.

I work as the Staff Development Manager for a non-profit in Garden Grove, and we team up with local universities and high schools to bring in “service learning” or “field study” students. Free labor for us, and college or high school credits for them.

When we get unmotivated students that are simply trying to fill a requirement, it usually turns out to be more taxing for our organization than it is worth.

We don’t have time to spend hours training and motivating someone who doesn’t believe in our mission. It would be cheaper for us to hire one (motivated) employee and pay them an hourly wage than sit around and convince an apathetic volunteer to care about our cause.

That’s Mike Lawson writing at The Liberal OC. Since he sees this all the time at his job in Garden Grove, I think he knows what he’s talking about. So if this doesn’t help the non-profits doing the community service, then why should we burden them with uncaring high schoolers who are doing doing this to check a box that needs to be checked in order to get a high school diploma?

And once again, why should we be forcing students to do something that they should want to do? This is simply preposterous. When I was in high school, I volunteered for my library because I wanted to. Sure, the “credits” I earned from my school for community service were a nice incentive… But ultimately, I volunteered at the library because I love books and I love learning. Now would it make sense for the state to force kids to “volunteer” (read BE SLAVES) at the library when they really hate being inside a huge building with a bunch of old books? Would they really put their hearts into their work? Would they really do the best job possible? And would they really learn the valuable lessons of community service?

I noticed that SB 227 was amended. Now, it offers elective credits for community service instead of a state mandate for it. That sounds better. I just hope that we remember that volunteering ultimately has to be voluntary.

CA-50: Volunteers are needed to help us to win

(If you’re in SoCal, go GOTV in CA-50 – promoted by SFBrianCL)

California Women Vote are looking for people to help get the vote out on the days leading up to the Tuesday, June 6th election.  This race between Democrat Francine Busby and Republican Brian Bilbray is going to be extremely close and every vote that we help to turn out to the polls will make a difference in the final result. This is the first time in a long while that a Democrat could win this district and could be the beginning of a larger change in Congressional leadership across the country.
We are meeting each day, June 3rd through June 6th at:

San Diego Marriott Del Mar
11966 El Camino Real
San Diego, CA 92130

We will have signs and greeters at each entrance.More details in the extended.

You can just show up at the above location at the beginning of each shift:

Saturday, June 3 – 9:00 AM or 1:00 PM
Sunday, June 4th – Noon or 4:00 PM
Monday, June 5th – Noon or 4:00 PM
Tuesday, June 6th – 6:30 AM or 10:45 AM or 4:00 PM

Please visit www.californiawomenvote.org for more information.