Blog
Surprise
The offices in Sioux Falls and Rapid City were hubs of excitement, as the Campaign for Healthy Families kicked back into full gear these last two weeks. Volunteers from all walks of life – young, old, men, women, boys and girls – are bringing food, office supplies and their families to celebrations kicking off another successful campaign to beat the ban.
The impromptu theme for our canvassing kick-off’s on both sides of SD turned out to be surprise. Both our volunteers and the neighbors that they talked to while going door to door in the community were surprised that we have to fight another abortion ban and surprised to learn just how restrictive and dangerous the law is.
Several volunteers had signed up for their first ever canvass shift. “I have to admit, I was a little nervous about going out on a Sat. and Sun. morning to talk about abortion,” Ashley later wrote. But she also had to admit, “It went really, really well …. I got such a phenomenal response. People thanked me for doing what I was doing.”
Another volunteer, Tiffany, was also really nervous before her first time canvassing. But it didn’t last. When she got back to the office, she walked straight up to our Campaign Manager Michelle and said, “I loved it. Can I come back tomorrow?” How could Michelle say no?
Not satisfied just kicking off a statewide, grassroots canvassing effort, we also threw our first two open houses recently, in SF and RC. Could we pull it off? Would there be enough community support for the campaign to have dozens of volunteers hitting the streets one day, and days later host a room full of dedicated voters cooking for each other, chatting, eating and learning how to contribute more? It turned out to be no problem.
How could we identify hundreds of supporters, organize scores of volunteers for canvassing and host a party where the room buzzed with enthusiasm? I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. The fact is, most South Dakotans are furious to see activists ignore the will of the voters. The most common reaction of the folks we’ve called and visited so far is “The ban is back?!?” Believe it or not, the ban IS back. And we’re canvassing, cooking and calling to beat it AGAIN. Contact the campaign at 605-977-2008 to learn how you can get involved.
Posted on 7/20/08