We, the Chairs of the Charlevoix Democratic and Republican Parties, invite you to participate in a united, bipartisan effort to contribute to relief efforts for what has been called the worst disaster in the Western Hemisphere! We’re sure you have watched in horror at the results of the total destruction of Port au Prince, the Capital of Haiti, with a population of three million starving, homeless, injured and dying people!

Our two parties have joined together, arm in arm, to do what we can to assist in this horrific catastrophe by asking you to contribute to a charity of your choice that is focused on helping in this tremendous relief effort. Below are cited some of the charities and web sites where you may consider making a contribution. For those of you affiliated with either of our parties we ask that you contact either 231-237-0000 for Republicans or 231-582-0416 for Democrats to inform them of the amount you donated so we can total an aggregate of the sums and we will only report the total amount donated through this bipartisan effort!  If you have already donated, please call and let us know how much and we will include it in the total.

In addition to this e-mail announcement, our two parties will be sharing this Haitian Campaign information with the news media to encourage others in our communities to participate in responding to this disaster.

Below are some of the organizations you may consider:

American Red Cross (text 90999 enter Haiti $10 will be donated and added to your bill)
Oxfam
Doctors without Borders
Partners in Health
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
World Vision
Interaction.org  has a list of 65 charities that are contributing to this effort.
In addition, many local Churches support mission work in Haiti.

All four major credit companies have announced that they would waive transaction fees for contributions to many of these charities through the end of February.  AMEX is waiving fees on all charities listed at the Interaction website as well as for Doctors Without Borders.

The campaign will run for the next 3 weeks ending February 7, 2010 at noon.  Thank you very much for considering our request.

Sincerely,

William Lovett, Chairman, Charlevoix County Democrats
Tim Boyko, Chairman, Charlevoix County Republicans

We held our first food drive of 2010 at Glen’s Market in Boyne City on Saturday, January 16.  The drive benefited the new Boyne Falls Pantry, as well as the Boyne City Community Pantry and the Boyne Area Free Clinic.  This was our most successful drive yet – about 20 carts of food and supplies, along with $457 in cash and checks.  Thanks to Mary Trout, Nancy Hellman, Glen Hindbaugh, Barb Perreault, Mary Dunn, Stan and Lee Katlein, Kris Busk and Carol Raitzer for helping out on a very busy shopping day.  The beautiful sunny day, the holiday weekend and possibly the horrific images from Haiti put people in a giving mood.   It was, again, a very rewarding experience.

We plan to hold at least three more drives in 2010, including East Jordan, Charlevoix and again in Boyne City.

We hand out slips of paper at the door with lists of the items the pantries or free clinic need and ask that the shopper leave the item with us on the way out.  Many people really want to help out the less fortunate in the county, but don’t know how to do it.  They appreciate how easy we make it for them to donate.  If you want to help, but are unable to volunteer at the drives, you can mail a check, made out to the pantry of your choice, to us at:  Charlevoix County Democratic Party, P. O. Box 651, Boyne City, MI  49712.

If you would like to volunteer in future food drives, please contact us at charlevoixdems@aim.com or call Barb at 582-0416.

There are several important issues facing Congress and President Obama at this time – healthcare reform, clean energy policy, war funding, gay and lesbian rights, just to name a few.  It is important to contact your legislators about your opinions, EVEN IF THEY SEEM TO AGREE WITH YOU.  Our senators and representatives hear from both sides of every issue and need to know where their constituents stand.  Here is contact information for Levin, Stabenow and Stupak:

Carl Levin:  Phone:  (202) 224-6221, e-mail http://levin.senate.gov/contact/
Debbie Stabenow:  (202) 224-4822, e-mail http://stabenow.senate.gov/contact.htm
Bart Stupak: (202) 225-4735, e-mail http://www.house.gov/stupak/IMA/issue2.htm

Writing letters is less effective, due to security measures that hold mail up to six weeks.  E-mails are more effective if written in your own words, rather than those of a form letter from an organization.  Your contact will also be more effective if you are polite and rational in outlining your reasons for supporting or opposing a measure.   Name-calling and rants are less likely to be taken into account.

Call or e-mail today!

All campaign filings due for 2008 have been completed and filed with the Secretary of State.   The reports can be viewed at the Michigan Secretary of State website (under “Links” to the right of this screen).  Once there, click on “Elections in Michigan”  and follow the links to the Campaign Finance Database.  Once there, you can look at county party filings as well as the filings for state-level candidates.  This information can be very interesting – you can see where the money comes from, who gets the special interest money, and what it is used for.

The next filing won’t be due until January 31, 2010.

Please note that we have moved our P. O. Box from Charlevoix to Boyne City.  Our new mailing address is:

Charlevoix County Democratic Party
P. O. Box 651
Boyne City, Michigan  49712

Election night at the Villager Pub – Thanks to all of you who helped to make this result possible!