Harcharan -- Next week, were facing our biggest fundraising deadline of the year. But this email isnt about asking you for money. This email is just to say thank you. Its a long one, but let me sum it up by saying: Theres no one else out there quite like us. Organizing for Action supporters fought hard this year -- theres so much to be proud of, and none of it would have been possible without people like you. When we were fighting for health care reform earlier in the year, OFA was the single-largest grassroots organization out there -- volunteers pledged more than 500,000 hours to help their neighbors get covered. Up against opponents looking to tear down the law (and willing to spread myths to do it), and with a website that didnt even work right away, we powered through. Now, 10.3 million fewer people are uninsured. The work we did together is fundamentally changing the conversation on health care in America. Want proof? Just look at the numbers were seeing so far in the second enrollment period. And look at how ineffective our opponents have become at trying to scare people out of getting health insurance. Another one of our core issues took big strides forward this year. We made historic progress in the fight against climate change this year -- the Presidents plan to cut carbon emissions from new and existing power plants is a big, big deal. And some say the Presidents agreement with China to limit carbon pollution might be even bigger. OFA has been at the forefront of this at the grassroots level. We sent more than 487,000 names to the EPA in support of the Presidents climate plan. We put climate change deniers walking the halls of Congress on notice -- and, if they think were going to let up now, theyre in for a big surprise next year. I could go on and on here. OK, a little more: In Washington state, we helped take on the gun lobby on expanding background checks, and we beat them. Marriage equality is now the law of the land for more than half the country. And another 14 states raised the minimum wage. Thats real, honest-to-goodness change. Through all of this, heres the part of what OFA is doing that I have no doubt will change the world: Since the start, OFA has trained thousands of grassroots organizers all across the country. Those are among the future leaders of this movement. And I imagine just the thought of thousands of community organizers trained up with top-notch skills is something that keeps our opponents up at night. Finally, when people ask me what OFA does, I talk about one thing first: Weve got some of the best volunteers in the world -- folks like you who dont just believe in making progressive change, but are also willing to fight for it. So Ill wrap this up -- thank you so, so much for your role in building this movement. We all depend on it. Weve got our work cut out for us next year -- what we can get done truly is in your hands. Lets go: my.barackobama/Recommit-for-2015 Have a safe and happy holiday! Sara Sara El-Amine Executive Director Organizing for Action
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 13:55:38 +0000