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San Francisco for Democracy Home
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Dean Corps to the Rescue! On Friday, November 11th, Dean Corps got an emergency call from Sam Marcum, volunteer coordinator at the San Francisco Food Bank. Another group had cancelled for the next day, leaving the Food Bank's Alabama and 16th Street facility -- where food boxes are prepared for seniors on fixed incomes -- without enough volunteers. Sam said he called Dean Corps because he knew he could count on our volunteers. Good call, Sam. Eleven Dean Corps volunteers -- Scott Blume, Marie Gaillac, Terese Lawler, Maureen, Cayla, and Cinta Letton, Beth Moseley, Susan Pfeiffer, Nancy Rosenthal, Jeff Whittington, and Mayumi Zelechoski -- worked the production line from 12:30 to 3:30 pm on Saturday, November 12th. With KFOG helping to set the pace, they packed more than 700 28-pound boxes with cans of fruit juice, meats, and vegetables, and bags of cereal and rice. They all enjoyed doing their part, whether it was putting boxes on the line, packing cans or bags, weighing the boxes, or putting them on pallets. The food bank delivers 11,000 federal supplemental food boxes to 15 senior centers in San Francisco each month. San Francisco for Democracy and Dean Corps are sponsoring a food drive at the December Meetup at Schroeder's on Wednesday, December 7th at 7:00 pm. The next Dean Corps event at the San Francisco Food Bank is on Saturday, December 17th from 12:30 to 3:30 pm. These are excellent opportunities to do your part to end hunger in our city. Check the calendar for Dec. 7 and Dec. 17 for details. December SF for Democracy Dean Corps Food Drive Can't volunteer at the San Francisco Food Bank in December? Dean Corps has another way you can help end hunger in our city: donate non-perishable food items to the Food Bank at San Francisco for Democracy's December 7th Meetup at Schroeder's. Most urgently needed foods:
All donated food must be in its store-bought, sealed packaging; and no glass containers, please. The best gift you'll give this holiday season is hope and sustenance. Thank you for caring and taking action. Dean Corps Adopts Bayview Hill 
Working with San Francisco Recreation and Parks' Natural Areas Program (NAP) gardeners, Dean Corps has adopted Bayview Hill, a park in one of our city's most neglected neighborhoods. On a sunny Saturday, October 8th, on the Hill, 15 Dean Corps volunteers removed invasive French Broom - which clearly had met its match - and collected native acorns and wild cherries for future planting. The work crew was led by NAP volunteer coordinators, Suzanna Buehl, and acting gardener supervisor, Christopher Campbell. Suzanna and Chris are planning an additional special planting day for Dean Corps at the park's greenhouse to transplant seedlings for "our hill." Special thanks to volunteer extraordinaire David Schmidt for recruiting so many volunteers. Dave has also been named our October Volunteer of the Month! Native San Franciscan, devoted father, and environmental expert extraordinaire, Dave has been involved in the organization from the beginning, and has really shined as a DeanCorps volunteer. His book on the ecological history of the Bay Area is almost finished and will be published in the near future. Thank you, Dave! The Natural Areas Program's mission is to protect the 860 acres in 31 parks that are remnants of San Francisco's original landscape. (In perspective, SF's Recreation and Parks Department manages 3,480 acres and 209 parks total.) NAP restores habitats and preserves the rich and diverse ecologies of these remaining landscapes, in cooperation with San Francisco's citizens and communities. Our next Dean Corps event will be at the San Francisco Food Bank on Saturday, November 12th. We will also be at the Food Bank on Saturday, December 17th. Dean Corps returns to Bayview Hill to give native plants and animals and our neighbors a helping hand on Saturday, December 10th. To reserve your place and get directions to any of these Dean Corps events, please email Alane at alane_bowling at hotmail dot com or Terese at tereselawler at yahoo dot com. Press Release: Endorsements 2005 Click here for the press release with all of our endorsements, including:
Got opinions? Share them in our forum. September Volunteer of the Month: Jeff Whittington Congratulations and thank you for being our September Volunteer of the Month! We are delighted that you've taken on the job of yahoo group moderator. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication on the Clean Money campaign, outreach, Dean Corps, etc. as well. We truly appreciate all you do to promote democracy. DeanCorps at the S.F. Food Bank, September 10, 2005 by Nancy Rosenthal Warm sunshine greeted seven DeanCorps volunteers as they arrived at the San Francisco Food Bank Saturday, September 10, 2005. After checking in, we were led by our volunteer coordinator to the North parking lot where large white bins of fruit were to be boxed and palletized for delivery to non-profit organizations that feed the hungry in our community. We joined with other volunteers bending over the lip of the bins, filling smaller boxes with fruit, and lobbing rotten fruit into blue bins for removal. Although the volunteers were spread out, periodically a stray piece of fruit would fly by, sometimes making it into the refuse bin, gently striking one of us or the ground nearby. Smiles and laughter filled the parking lot as we wiped the sweat and stretched our backs whenever a cool breeze swept over us. Oldies on the boom box kept our spirits up. We emptied bin after bin, switched from sorting the messy peaches to the easier oranges, and finally the easiest of all, apples. The volunteer coordinators manned forklifts, removed empty bins, brought in full bins, took filled pallets out, returned with empty pallets, and somehow managed to keep over 50 volunteers busy and safe through the entire shift. Volunteers were all smiles when our shift was over and we left the premises. DeanCorps has been volunteering at the Food Bank since January 2005 and will be returning to the Food Bank November 11, 2005. Did you know that in San Francisco, one in four children and one in five adults, including seniors, cannot meet their basic nutritional needs? The San Francisco Food Bank, distributes 23 million pounds of food, enough to provide more than 50,000 meals to hungry San Franciscans every day. Without volunteers like us, and donations from people in our community (80% of their operating budget comes from the community, not government programs), the Food Bank would not be able to distribute food to the 450 nonprofit anti-hunger organizations that feed the hungry in our community. Check their website, http://www.sffoodbank.org/, for ways to donate, get on their newsletter mailing list, or find other volunteer opportunities. The San Francisco Food Bank is located at 900 Pennsylvania at 23rd Street, San Francisco, 94107, 415-282-1909. California Clean Money Campaign update The past month has been an exciting one for the San Francisco California Clean Money Campaign (CCMC) working group. Volunteers energetically petitioned in support of AB583 before every SF Mime Troupe performance in The City. We had a booth at the first-ever Sierra Club Summit and probably broke some kind of record (over 570 signatures gathered in 3 days). We spoke at a CCMC house party in Marin that happened because of a house party the hosts attended in SF. Clean Money is catching on!. We have begun regular tabling for the CCMC at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, every Saturday right next to SF4D's Special Election outreach table. Arnold's special election is all about paying back his big donors - a major problem for which Clean Money, full public financing of campaigns, is the obvious solution. Did you know that after Arizona and Maine established a Clean Money system for statewide and legislative offices, they were able to balance their budgets? And because legislators were accountable to their constituents and not to industry lobbyists, Maine now has a form of universal health care. We have a booth at the rally in Jefferson Square Park on Saturday, Sept. 24, after the anti-war march (Volunteers especially needed from 2pm on! Sign up before the 24th at http://www.hengstrom.net/politics/Anti-warSignUp.html). On October 15, Saturday morning, there is a working group meeting - a great place to plug in. All of this is on the SF4D Calendar: check it out and see how you can help spread the word and bring Clean Money to California. You can contact me at norcal-info@caclean.org. Fiddling While New Orleans Drowns? Pretty much. Both of these photos were taken on Tuesday, August 30th.
More comparison photos of the days around Katrina's landfall can be found in two excellent diaries by Icerat and Markos over on DailyKos.com. A stunning flash animation (warning: graphic images) by Mitch Gore is here. Take Action - Tell Congress to hold Bush accountable on failed Katrina response. Volunteer of the Month - Mimi LaPointe Congratulations and THANK YOU to Mimi (Michelle) LaPointe, our August Volunteer of the Month. Since Gov. Dean's primary campaign, Mimi has been a strong asset to our local group as well as Women for Dean. Earlier this year, Mimi worked on our strategic planning process. Mimi's expertise in women's, children's, and educational issues has been a valuable resource to our political affairs committee. We also honor Mimi's community activism and participation in numerous outreach and Dean Corps events. Outreach Tabling Sept. 3rd By the Bay, and out by the breakers...we found a LOT of people who need information about the Nov. 8th special election. Come on out and join us one of these Saturdays...it's easy, and fun!!
Dean Corps on Bayview Hill It was a beautiful day up on Bayview Hill once again, helping rip out the alien invaders and restore the grass varieties native to San Francisco. Check out the photos in our photo gallery.
DFA Reception at Harrington's -- Thanks!! It was fantastic to see everyone - thanks so much for coming!! Some great photos are in our photo gallery...
We Support Cindy Sheehan On Wednesday August 24, more than 1,600 vigils were held across the US to support Cindy Sheehan's quest for answers from the Bush Administration. This was just one of them, in San Francisco, which included some very moving speeches from a Marine recently returned from Iraq and a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. (New! Send Cindy a Rose!)  
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Meetup Wed May 7
Quote of the Day:
"The last time people listened to a Bush, they wandered in the desert for 40 years." Working Groups SF for Democracy's Five Strategic Issues
 Play Whack-a-Murdoch Boom Boom (a very funny video) Join our Yahoo group (discussion, etc.) No Longer New ! Air America radio in the Bay Area...960 on your AM dial (or on the web here). |
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©2008 San Francisco For Democracy |
