SCAN activists from the across the U.S. encouraged people to Get Out the Vote for kids!
With only a few weeks until the 2020 election, you’ve likely seen many signs, posts, texts and emails about “getting out the vote” (GOTV). Why? Because your voice matters! This has been an unprecedented year, but your vote remains as important as ever.
You see, kids can’t vote, but this year there are plenty of issues on the ballot that will affect them now and in the future. So it’s up to us, the voters, to be their voice. That’s why Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) recently hosted a Get out the Vote for Kids Week of Action. All across the U.S., our amazing volunteers and student activists sent texts and wrote postcards asking people to make a plan to vote. So far, they’ve sent more than 120,000 text messages and mailed close to 6,000 hand-written postcards — and they’re still going! That’s a huge amount of advocacy for kids.
It’s simply amazing to look at the overall impact. But I’m also really inspired by the individual stories of our advocates who took the time to get out the vote for kids. Here are just a few examples:
South Carolina
Citlaly is a college freshman and the first person in her family to attend college in the United States. To date, she has sent 225 hand-written postcards urging low-propensity South Carolina voters to get to the polls. She also sent 4,795 texts to voters in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia reminding them to make a plan to vote. Citlaly even submitted a letter to the editor of The State newspaper sharing her story as a young Latina. Amazing job, Citlaly!
Photo: Citlaly holding a SCAN postcard.
Washington
In Washington State, our volunteers were text-banking superstars. They sent more than 10,000 messages in just a few hours (wow!). On National Voter Registration Day, SCAN partnered with the Washington State Association of Head Start & ECEAP (WSA) to train and host a text bank event. Together, volunteers sent thousands of texts that evening. We love the collaboration for kids!
Photo: Piles of postcards ready to send.
Illinois
Kelly Murphy founded a SCAN student club at Illinois State University earlier this year. She spent the week of action mailing postcards to unregistered voters. She also texted more than 2,000 voters in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa. Thank you for your hard work, Kelly!
Photo: Kelly (left) and her roommate after voting.
Colorado
Coloradoans have a unique opportunity this year to be a voice for kids! One of the ballot measures, Prop. EE, would allocate money from a nicotine tax to help fund universal preschool and other early learning opportunities.
During the week of action, SCAN Colorado State Manager Annalise Romoser and SCAN Legislative Volunteer Leader for Denver, Jennifer Spires, did a radio interview about the issue on KGNU to raise awareness. Volunteer leaders across the state each reached about 5,000 voters via texting.
(As a Coloradoan myself, I was thrilled to receive texts from SCAN volunteers asking about my plan to vote and encouraging me to vote for kids. Their advocacy worked — my ballot is in the mail, and it has a full black mark next to YES for Prop. EE!)
Photo: My husband and I voted in Denver.
New York
These students made New York proud! During the week of action, a Save the Children club at Stuyvesant High School in New York City hosted a GOTV webinar for more than 200 classmates about getting involved in the electoral and political process. The webinar featured a panel of three New York City council members— Carlina Rivera, Brad Lander and Ben Kallos. The panelists spoke about the importance of voting and the work they’ve done for kids. Following the panel, attendees split into breakout rooms to write letters to voters and to pre-register to vote. What an inspiring group of future voters!
Photo: Screenshot from the event.
2020 has been a challenging year for so many, but we have an opportunity to end the year on a bright note by voting in support of issues that matter to kids. By using our voices and our votes, we can build a strong future for all. So join us and get out the vote — for kids!