Several V4CF members to participate in 'Day of Action' May 22

Now as you know, Volunteers For Change-Fresno is not in the business or endorsing specific candidates; instead, we tend to focus on specific issues and on volunteer activities.

Still, we'd have to be living under a rock to somehow miss that the California Primary Elections are just days away, scheduled Tuesday, June 8. And since we're indeed living but see no granite, shale or marble above our collective heads, we did want to pass along word about an activity in which several Volunteers For Change-Fresno members plan to participate.

The event? It's called 'Day of Action,' and it'll involve precinct walking and phone banking in support of three local candidates friendly to our positions on our core issues. Scheduled 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 22, 'Day of Action' will allow volunteers to hit the streets in support of:

• Henry T. Perea, running for State Assembly District 31;
• Cynthia Sterling, running for Board of Supervisors District 1; and
• Oliver Baines, running for Fresno City Council District 3, who's spoken with V4CF on several occasions about both his candidacy and the annual Santa's Village event.

At the 'Day of Action,' each candidate is scheduled speak about the issues in their respective campaigns beginning at 11 a.m. An afternoon of phone banking and precinct walking for each of the candidates will follow, with a ‘Thank You Barbecue’ for participating volunteers scheduled at 3 p.m. To join in the Day of Action, RSVP by calling (559) 447-2578.

In the meantime, if there's a candidate's event for which you'd like to invite V4CF members' participation, send us the details at v4cfresno@yahoo.com.

Generation Green 2010 Report

On April 24th, Erik Nodacker and Kris Arden participated in Generation Green 2010 sponsored by Hands On Central California. The event kick-off took place at 8:00am at Woodward Park.

Kris and Erik worked on a milk thistle removal project with the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust at the Jensen River Ranch. Despite the heat, prickly plants, and bugs, Kris and Erik enjoyed the event.

While working on the project, they noticed many large red beetles in the field. The project leader told them that the beetles were an endangered beetle called Elderberry Beetles. The plot of land we cleared has been set aside to help restore plant species native, such as the elderberry plant, to the San Joaquin River area.

After the event, Erik and Kris enjoyed eating a well-deserved frozen yogurt at the shopping center across the street from Woodward Park.

COMMUNITY FOOD BANK UPDATE!

Looking for V4CF members to participate at upcoming Community Food Bank distributions.
Be sure to bring a friend and wear your V4CF T-Shirt!

UPCOMING COMMUNITY FOOD BANK EVENTS & DATES

Essential Services Health Faire & Food Distributions:
Date: Saturday, June 5th
Time: 9:00am - 4:00pm
Location: Madera, CA (Exact location TBA)

Community Volunteer Program:
Location: Community Food Bank (3403 E. Central Avenue, Fresno, CA 93725)
Dates & Times:
Saturday, May 15 8:00am - 10:30am
Saturday, June 19 10:30am - 1:00pm
Saturday, July 17 10:30am - 1:00pm

Please contact Kris Arden at kkarden@yahoo.com or 978-1736 to sign up for any of the dates listed above.

June ballot propositions the topic at next V4CF meeting May 4

The five propositions on the June 8 ballot will be the topic of our next Volunteers For Change-Fresno meeting, scheduled 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, in the large community room of the Fig Garden Library, 3071 W. Bullard Ave., in Fresno. The library is on the southwest corner of Bullard and Marks, in the shopping center.

Guest speaker Don Larson will give us a breakdown on each of the June 8 propositions:

• Property Tax: New Construction Exclusion: Seismic Retrofitting;
  
  
• Elections: Open Primaries;
  
  
• Political Reform Act of 1974: California Fair Elections Act of 2008;
  
  
• New Two-Thirds Vote Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers. Initiative Constitutional Amendment; (referred to by many as the 'PG&E Revenue Enhancement Act' ;-)
  
  
• Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage. Initiative Statute.

We'll also present information about coming volunteer opportunities in the Fresno area, with our usual fun and camaraderie included. We hope to see you there!

Help voters register: 'Adopt A Post Office'

One of the ways potential voters can register is by picking up a voter-registration form at their local Post Office. But as our member Ruth Afifi reports, Post Offices do not always seem to have the forms available.

To alleviate this problem, and to assist those who wish to register, Ruth is asking Volunteers For Change-Fresno members to 'Adopt A Post Office.'

For some time now, Ruth has been visiting her local Post Office to ensure two things: that her Post Office has an appropriate supply of voter-registration forms, and that they keep those forms in an easy-to-access location. Ruth has also taken responsibility for delivering new supplies of forms to her Post Office when they run out.

Her efforts have been immensely helpful to those wishing to register. But with dozens of Post Offices scattered throughout the Fresno metropolitan area, it's indeed a task for which no number of helping hands would be 'too many.'

Want to help? To 'Adopt A Post Office':

1. First check out the list of Post Offices on the USPS website.
   
   
2. Then, contact V4CF via e-mail at v4cfresno@yahoo.com with your name, your e-mail address, and the address of the Post Office you'd like to adopt.

V4CF will get that information to our member Ruth Afifi, who will assist you in making sure your adopted Post Office keeps an appropriate supply of forms. Questions? Contact us via e-mail.

Join V4CF at 'Earth Day' events April 24

As announced at our general meeting April 6, Volunteers For Change-Fresno invites it members to participate in a pair of Earth Day events scheduled Saturday, April 24.

In the first event, 'Generation Green 2010,' participants will help with several environmental restoration projects near the Jensen River Ranch, helping to rid the area of invasive species and restore the area. To participate, meet at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 24, at Woodward Park in Fresno for the Generation Green kickoff event. Participants will leave from there with their 'restoration parties' and head to the Jensen River Ranch. For more information or to volunteer, contact Kris Arden at kkarden@yahoo.com or (559) 978-1736. Wear your boots and your 'Volunteers For Change-Fresno' t-shirts, and count on getting dirty.

The second event, 'Fresno Earth Day 2010,' will feature speakers, live music, kid's activities, workshops, demonstrations and more, all designed to help people learn more about environmental sustainability and environmental justice. Sponsored by Fresno Pacific University, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno and GreenFresno.org, the event is scheduled 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 24, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 2672 E. Alluvial Ave. in Clovis. The event is open to the public, and admission is free.

What will healthcare reform mean for me?

As announced at our general meeting April 6, several organizations have made available free, online calculators designed to show what impact the passage of healthcare reform will have.

The first, and one of the easiest to use, comes from the Washington Post. Visit their calculator at http://www.washingtonpost.com/healthcaretool, enter your information, and watch for its answer.

The website for the Henry T. Kaiser Family Foundation at http://www.kff.org offers a great recap of the provisions in the bill, as well as a timeline for implementation of various provisions. They also have an online healthcare calculator available, should you want to see their assessment of the legislation's impact.