Protecting Public Lands Workgroup

The Protecting Public Lands workgroup has spent the last month preparing a series of alerts to provide talking points for EDP members to share with family and friends regarding the upcoming election. We have highlighted Tom McClintock's dismal record on the environment (he earned a score of 0% in 2017 for his voting record on environmental issues from the League for Conservation Voters, 4% in 2018!). We know that our beautiful public lands are a treasure for the residents of District 4, and looking at McClintock's record, it is obvious that he does not share these values. Please take a few moments to read our series of message alerts at https://eldoradoprogressives.org/env-alerts.

Last month a group of EDP-ers volunteered to helped clean up the American River through the American River Conservancy. It was good, satisfying work with a lovely BBQ afterward. 

Social Networking Workgroup

Social Networking is not a volunteering group, it's a "for the volunteers" group, aimed at providing opportunities for us to get to know each other to cheer the good times and provide moral support when events take a toll on our souls. EDP camaraderie is palpable!
 
We recently hosted a movie outing to see the brilliant "Fahrenheit 11/9." The consensus of the group that attended was that everyone should see this informative but scary, depressing yet energizing film. We left feeling inspired to mobilize, vote, and volunteer to Get Out the Vote.
 
Be on the lookout for more of these "just for fun" events in the future, and attend whenever you can. If you have an idea for a social get-together of any kind, let's talk! Send your suggestions to EDPSocial@tegnelink.com.

Formerly known as Social Organizing, the group's name has been changed to Social Networking to broaden its scope to include promoting businesses that support progressive values. If you know of a such a business, send the contact information to EDPSocial@tegnelink.com and we'll give them a shout out!

We're also working to bring in more promotional materials and are pleased to announce our EDP Tote Bag, imprinted with the EDP logo and the four values of the progressive movement. Great conversation starter! Priced at $15 and available at EDP meetings.

Young Progressives

Day in the Park: Sept. 8 was a very good day to hang out in the sun, eat tacos, and listen to speakers and music. It was an even better day to register to vote and 11 people did! Many thanks to our Young Progressives Anika Schmidt and Lauren Tilley who dreamt up and spearheaded the event, and to the many others who helped with food, table set-up, voter registration, and myriad other activities.

Special Events: A Weekend with John Pavlovitz

The John Pavlovitz weekend of events was wonderful according to the folks who were there. One attendee said, “He is SO human, and so relevant!” People left feeling hopeful, and with ideas about how to remain hopeful during these stressful and often discouraging times. If you weren’t able to attend and want to know more about John’s thoughts and writing, you can subscribe (free) to his blog post email here: https://johnpavlovitz.com.

Healthcare Workgroup

Over the past few months, the Healthcare Workgroup has continued distributing the Wallet Cards. Most notably, 100 in Spanish for utilization in distribution in packets by the Immigration Workgroup. The South Lake Tahoe Version has been distributed via a community collaborative there both in English and Spanish. Planning continues for ‘House Parties’ about Medicare for All for fall onwards.
 
The Workgroup will not be meeting until after the November elections as we concentrate our efforts to ‘Get Out The Vote’.

Immigration Rights Workgroup

Brake light repair event
See what happens when a small group of volunteers come together for a morning? We held our first-ever brake light repair event to assist low-income people (anyone who showed up was helped) who can’t afford the repair and even more so can’t afford to get a ticket. It was a definite success. We’ll be holding more events such as this in the future. Watch for details and come on down and help! 

John Pavlovitz is coming to El Dorado County

Sponsored by Indivisible El Dorado Hills and El Dorado Progressives, author, pastor and activist, John Pavlovitz, is coming to El Dorado County and will be presenting “Building a Bigger Table,” a discussion based on his best-selling book,  A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic and Hopeful Spiritual Community.

Presentation will be at the EDH CSD Pavilion on Saturday, September 22nd from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m (with a Special Reception from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.)

He will also be leading a workshop entitled “Cultivating Hope in Difficult Times” on Sunday, September 23rd from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. also at the EDH CSD Pavilion.

John is from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past four years his blog, “Stuff That Needs To Be Said,” has reached a diverse worldwide audience. John, a 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities. In 2017, he released his first book, A Bigger Table. His new book, Hope and Other Superpowers, arrives on November 6th.

Buy tickets for these events at Eventbrite

Details of these events on our Events-page

A limited pre-sale period for El Dorado Progressives and Indivisible El Dorado Hills members will provide our members with the first opportunity to obtain tickets before they are gone.  Pre-sale to our members will be available until Friday August 10th. 2018, after which time ticket sales will also be open to the public.

Tickets are expected to sell out, so act fast in purchasing your tickets guaranteeing a thoughtful and energizing evening and/or afternoon with John Pavlovitz.  A once in a lifetime opportunity.

EDP Annual Picnic and BBQ, Sun., July 15

At Henningsen Lotus Park

11 am to 4 pm 

Note: this is our General Meeting for the month of July

Come out and enjoy the natural beauty of our area with your fellow progressives. This is a chance for us all to relax, enjoy the cool river, and enjoy the company of our EDP friends. 

Bring a dish to share and something to throw on the grill. We will have the indoor pavilion as well as the nearby picnic tables for our group.  

Bring frisbees, balls, and games and be ready for a dip in the river.

Fun for the whole family!

Community Outreach with Vote Smart--a Volunteer Opportunity

EDP is exploring creating an outreach program to make voting easier for seniors and disabled people in El Dorado County. This might include:

1. Helping people register to vote

2. Helping people who are already registered to sign-up for mail-in ballots

3. Delivering people's mail-in ballots to their designated drop-off locations

4. Transporting people to/from their polling location

If you can volunteer, please provide the information requested below. In addition to the activities listed above, we will need people to:

1. Help us plan 

2. Design/conduct a poll/survey to determine which of the above services is/are actually needed

3. Determine our capacity/available locations based on volunteer interest

4. Set up/design web page for people to request services

5. Reach out to seniors, veterans, and political groups who can help us identify target voters and direct them to our web page

6. Conduct outreach to our target audiences—people who could use our help

7. Match volunteers with people needing help

8. And…other items to be decided upon after discussion and planning.

Please join our group, VoteSmart. Click here, and use the form to provide us with your information.

Home Address is optional, but please provide it--or at least your street and zip code--to help us plan where we can have carpools. Phone number is optional, share if you wish. In the Comments section, let us know if you can help plan, help with outreach, help on election day, etc.

Dawn Wolfson

Civil Rights Now Workgroup

Come and join the EDP Civil Rights Now Workgroup for our six-month anniversary as we rally for all human rights and equality for all: Civil Rights, Immigration Rights, Healthcare, LBGTQ, Labor/Union Rights, Students’ Rights.

March For Our Rights

Saturday, July 14 

10 am                    Meet at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds Green Gate

                              facing Placerville Drive.

11 am                     March to the corner of Placerville Dr. and Ray Lawyer Dr.

11:30 am to 1pm    Speakers and Singing led by New Freedom Choir

1pm                        March back to the fairgrounds

 Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."