Cross-posted at MyDD.
Hi, everyone. Long time no see. Today I want to tell you about one thing that I’ve been doing since the campaign season ended. Some folks have asked me if I was going to take a break from politics after I worked so hard for my Dad, Jack Carter, in Nevada. And yes, for about a week, all I wanted to do was watch some football, have a few beers, and play Final Fantasy 12 on my PS2.
But one thing that’s drawn me back in is an organization called Democrats Work. Democrats Work is a community service organization that helps people organize projects within their own neighborhoods. The idea is that people can get together and do good things for their communities as Democrats. Their slogan is "Putting our values into action."
My brother, Jason Carter, and his good friend Thomas Bates, co-founded Democrats Work (you can read more about each of them on the Democrats Work website). To tell you the truth, I’m not sure when it was officially founded – the two of them have been talking about it for years. But it's just recently taken off.
Thomas, who is now the executive director, recently posted over at Calitics and he explains the motivations behind it:
First, we simply do some good in our communties. By making tangible contributions and increasing the visibility of Democrats at the local level, we show our neighbors that Democrats get things done. When there is a need in a community, we want people to say, "Call the Democrats, they always have people who can help." Second, we engage the grassroots during non-election time to keep folks active and involved. Instead of asking people to get involved every two or four years, we tap into that energy year-round and keep the band together. Third, we reach out to people who might not otherwise get involved in purely "political" activities, but share our values. Not everyone wants to hand out campaign literature or phone bank or even wants to work for a particular candidate, but they are willing to paint a school or clean up a park with their friends. And, fourth, we build a unified stable of motivated and easily mobilized volunteers who can help candidates win elections.
On Tuesday, I went to a Democrats Work event here in San Francisco. We were wrapping presents for an organization called Support for Families of Children with Disabilities. Their holiday party is this weekend and they are giving away over 300 gifts to the children in these families. The wrapping event was a lot of fun! Yes, that picture is of me – you can see other pictures of the event (and previous events) at the DW Flickr page. It was a great feeling to join with other like-minded people and actually get something done that would help out those who need it. Politics is interesting because you can spend a whole career helping people by working to elect people who will represent them and by getting legislation passed that is in their interests, but doing actual work with your hands that produces something tangible that somebody will appreciate directly is a different feeling.
Remember that Democrats Work is a national organization. You can join and help plan events in your own neighborhood (or find events near you) on the website. I think it’s a really good cause and will be good for the party in the long run.
Thanks for reading – let me know what you think!
Sarah