http://www.actblue.com/...
Hello to everyone from sunny St. Joseph County Indiana! This is my first post to Kos in a while and, wouldn't you know, I come asking for money.
However, the money is not for me, it is for our county Democratic headquarters. I have only been heavily involved in politics for about five years now but I have traveled most of Indiana and I can honestly say that we are one of the few fortunate counties to have a full time, established, downtown Democratic headquarters. Many communities in Indiana are not so fortunate. They run their campaigns out of short term rented space.
I can tell you that as a volunteer over the past few years I have seen quite an improvement in our building. I remember attending a Howard Dean meetup there back in late 2003 when first time Congressional candidate Joe Donnelly came to speak to the group. The roof had actually buckled from accumulated snow a few weeks previously and was propped up by large timbers in the middle of the meeting room. Toward the end of Donnelly's remarks he mentioned how the Party and headquarters could use our time, energy and donations when a heating/cooling duct fell through the ceiling. Fortunately no one was hurt but it definitely showed everyone that our headquarters needed work.
Fast forward to 2008. Everyone who comes in, even old political veterans, note how much better the place looks and feels. We have fixed the heating and cooling system, upgraded the phone and electrical outlets in the floor, upgraded the mens and women's restrooms, installed high speed internet and fixed the roof. Our chairman deserves quite a bit of credit, for he paid for a lot of these improvements out of his own pocket, but we got help from some good Democrats as well.
We still have work to do. We would like to replace the threadbare carpet in the front and back meeting rooms, we could use another desktop computer or two, we need a new paper cutter, and we really need a good heavy duty paper shredder. These are all "wish list" items, but there is much more to keeping a headquarters up and running than big ticket items.
We have to keep ourselves stocked with paper products (TP, paper towels, copy paper, etc...), pens, tape, pop, bottled water, snack food, food for meetings and events, and the various office supplies that are needed from day to day. Our fax machine takes four different colors of ink just to print black and white (a gyp, I know, but it is all we have). Not only do we have these costs but we still have to make a mortgage payment, utility payments, phone and internet payments and taxes.
Now that I have talked everyone who may have been considering investing in a headquarters out of the idea, here is my pitch: we have reached out to our Democratic family here in the county and now I am reaching out to fellow Democrats via the internet. I have set up an Act Blue page for our county headquarters. If you are so moved, you may contribute to our cause with a one time gift or a recurring donation. We are not looking for gold plated toilets or Dom Perignon. Every donation we get for the everyday essentials helps us help other Democrats in our community. While it may not always seem so, those local candidates for Recorder, Commissioner or County Council are our direct link to the man and woman in the community. Help us help these "down ticket" candidates be the best they can be and help us be the best people's headquarters we can be.
http://www.actblue.com/...
St. Joseph County Democratic Headquarters
135 S. Lafayette Boulevard
South Bend, IN 46601
574-288-8683
stjoeindianademocrats@gmail.com