Save the Date; Anticipate that your phone will ring sometime this weekend

V4CFers: Please mark the evening of Nov. 3 as 'busy' on your calendars!

Why? This weekend, a crack squadron of the V4CF Telephone Team will be calling all V4CF members to invite them to a very special event we've planned for the evening of Nov. 3. Fun, enlightenment, fond memories and a bit of holiday cheer will be on tap that evening for all V4CFers, and for all who worked so diligently on the Obama Campaign last fall.

But... until then, mum's the word. Listen for the ringing of your phone sometime this weekend. We'll spill the details then.

Oh, and before I forget: Here's that map we'll mention.

Decision on public option is near; Rep. Costa still needs a nudge

From our friends at MoveOn.org:

This afternoon, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders will make a decision on whether to include a robust public option in the House health care bill.

Pelosi is leading the charge to put the strongest possible public option in the bill, but she needs to be sure she has the votes to pass it on the House floor. According to news reports, she's still a few votes shy, so we've got to act fast.

Representative Jim Costa could be a key vote on the public option. Can you call right away and urge him to stand with Speaker Pelosi and support the most robust public health insurance option—the one called "Medicare plus five"?

Here's where to call:

Representative Jim Costa
Local: (559) 495-1620
Washington, D.C.: (202) 225-3341

Meanwhile, the lunch-hour informational picket outside Rep. Costa's Fresno office continues. Want to make your lunch hour today more productive? Join us 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. today, Oct. 23, outside his office at 855 M Street in downtown Fresno.

Let's get it done!

HandsOn invites V4CF to participate in 'Make A Difference Day' Oct. 24

HandsOn Central California has invited Volunteers For Change-Fresno members to participate in 'Make A Difference Day," scheduled 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Lowell Elementary School in Fresno. HandsOn writes:

Each year on Make A Difference Day, community volunteers participate in a project that addresses critical community needs. This year's efforts will be centered on Fresno's Lowell Neighborhood, where 500 volunteers are needed to help with a series of community revitalization projects, including:

• Cleanup and beautification of Belmont Avenue between Blackstone and Fulton;
• Beautification of the Lowell School;
• Paint touch-ups;
• Cleanup of 80 vacant lots;
• Planting of daffodils as a symbol of hope and renewal; and more.

For more information, contact Joseph Cody of HandsOn Central California at (559) 237-3101 or via email at jcody@handsoncentralcal.org. To volunteer, visit the sign-up page on the HandsOn Central California website.

Donations needed for SW Policing District's annual 'Santa's Village' event

As announced at our meeting Oct. 13, Volunteers For Change-Fresno is collecting donations of toys, clothes and more in support of 'Santa's Village,' an annual event for kids living in ZIP Code 93706.

Conducted each year by Fresno's Southwest Policing District, the 'Santa's Village' event allows kids from ZIP Code 93706 the opportunity to receive a holiday gift and a high-quality photo with Santa. Event organizers expect to serve more than three thousand children over the event's six evenings this year, with families braving long lines and chilly weather for the opportunity to creating a family memory by having their children receive a gift and a photo with Santa.

Want to help? Santa's Village needs donations of new or slightly used:

• Toys, especially stuffed animalls;
• Clothing, in children's sizes 0-18;
• Mittens and gloves;
• Warm hats, jackets and shoes.

To donate, bring your items to a Volunteers For Change-Fresno meeting, or contact V4CF members Kris Arden (978-1736 or kkarden@yahoo.com) or Nancy Griesser (325-1616 or nancyg@csufresno.edu). Monetary donations are also gladly accepted; checks should be made payable to the Fresno Police Neighborhood Watch Association (FPNWA).

Volunteers needed to 'smile and dial' in support of healthcare reform Oct. 21

It's 'time to deliver' on healthcare reform. With that in mind, Volunteers For Change-Fresno and other groups are invited to lend their support to healthcare reform with a public option at a phonebanking session, scheduled 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Hall, 4422 E. Ashlan Ave. in Fresno.

CWA Vice President Stan Santos will kick off the event at 5 p.m. with a short presentation on health insurance reform. After that, volunteers will 'smile and dial' constituents of Rep. Jim Costa (who's still withholding his support for both healthcare reform and a public option) to encourage them to express their support for healthcare reform and the public option with Rep. Costa.

Bring your cell phones, chargers and extra minutes. Scripts, snacks and good company will be provided.

Want to participate? Contact V4CF member Connie Peterson at c.peterson8784@sbcglobal.net, or sign up on the event page at MyBarackObama.com.

President Obama's weekly address: Taking on the insurance companies down the stretch

From our friends at Whitehouse.gov:

In his weekly address, and as the health insurance reform debate enters into its final stages in Congress, President Obama denounces the desperate and deceptive last-ditch efforts of the health insurance companies to derail it.

If the viewscreen below is not visible, President Obama's weekly address can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqXgp5mWU00.

From the Daily Kos: Time to employ campaign spirit in support of the public option

V4CF member Ruth Afifi sent this Daily Kos article along, encouraging those who supported Barack Obama last year in his campaign for the Presidency employ that same spirit and energy toward support of the public option in healthcare reform. From the Daily Kos:

It's time for those who phone banked and wrote letters to get back down to it. We need to be the change, we need to feel the hope, and this time it's health care reform that's at stake. It's time to hold Obama's feet to the fire, exactly as he asked us to do, because we cared then and we still care. Do we want to be drowned out by the voices of Washington politics-as-usual? The same old, same old? No! It's the hour of hope; the time for cynicism is no more.

Want to get it done? Call. Write. Tweet. Here's the info:

Email: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Comments: (202) 456-1111
Switchboard: (202) 456-1414
Fax: (202) 456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: (202) 456-6213
Twitter: @whitehouse @BarackObama:PUBLIC OPTION NOW! NO TRIGGERS! NO CO-OPS! NO OPT OUT! PUBLIC OPTION NOW!

The full article is available on the Daily Kos website.