I want to post a quick follow-up after our conversations with Four Directions at the Q&A and on the zoom.
We had a good turnout last night, just over 20 people.
Balloon Juice never fails to amaze. When we have fires out west, we have a jackal who is a fire chief. When we’re talking about a virus, we have a virologist. When we’re figuring out how to teach from a distance, we have an expert in that.
Last night, we had multiple jackals at the zoom who have contacts in the legal profession in the area of tribal law that they offered to share with the folks at Four Directions who are involved in litigation.
The four initial states FOUR DIRECTIONS are committed to for 2022 are:
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Nevada
- Wisconsin
They have 5 days left of their “match” campaign. If they reach the match goal of $50,000 goal by end of day Monday, a donor will match that $50,000.
They are close, at 43,500, just 6,500 short of the match goal.
With a successful “match” campaign this month, these four additional states could be added as target states for 2022:
- Colorado
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Pennsylvania
Someone at the zoom last night suggested that we put the thermometer in the sidebar during the remaining 5 days of their match campaign, and lots of people thought that was a great idea, so there it is.
Wolvesvalley
It was a great zoom! I loved meeting Lewis and OJ “face to face.”
I just chipped in a little more.
pat
OK, I’ll throw in a bit more. It would be a shame to miss out on that $50,000 matching donation.
laura
Chipped in!
SiubhanDuinne
Thank you, WG, for organising the zoomcall with Lewis and O.J. It was an excellent discussion. Tossed a little more in the pot earlier today. That matching money is a hell of an incentive!
currants
Yet another reason I LOVE LOVE LOVE you all. You wouldn’t know it, I rarely comment, I know. But on every front, you are such good-hearted people it does my spirit good to know you are in the world.
WaterGirl
@currants: What a nice thing to say. You comment enough that I know your nym, though. :-) So you are one of us!
edit: Of course, even the lurkers are part of BJ!
RaflW
I’m already in for a c-note, so I’m not sure how much more I’ve got, but: What would our thermometer have to show to be sure they get to 50K? Or, maybe a better question: Would us hitting 15K on ours mean that we’ve given a proportional amount to ensure they hit the mark?
I’m bummed I missed it, but things around the W house were a little hectic last night.
WaterGirl
@RaflW: Thanks for your c-note!
If we hit 18,000 on our thermometer, they would for sure hit 50,000 even if no other donations came in from other sources.
If we hit 15,000, there will be about
$3,500$3,000 that needs to come in from elsewhere.Also, H.E. Wolf asked last night if paper checks can count toward the total. As long as the checks are dated by 5/31, the answer was yes. (Of course with paper, you never know it’s coming until it arrives.)
Mary G
I chipped in a little more during Zoom time, though I was not on it. Won’t move the thermometer much, but my small monthly ongoing contribution should be useful in the future. I hope the matching donor is going to match whatever they raise even if it’s not the whole 50k.
O/T California has entered the “pay reluctant people to get vaccinated” segment of its virus response:
Not going to link, but someone I admire on Twitter is grousing about “why don’t we, the people who had time and money enough to get it early, get a prize?” Bitch, please, the prize was these months of not having the worry of catching the dread disease and dying of it. It’s the same syndrome of “don’t give millennials money to pay off their school loans, because I paid mine back,” and “I had to walk five miles uphill in the snow to get to school, thank your maker that you only have two miles on city streets.”
I also got a message on the emergency line from the county that there is a special number to call if you’re over 65 or have medical conditions at any age, and they will get you vaccinated whatever it takes.
H.E.Wolf
Their postal address is:
Four Directions Inc.
PO Box 731
Chamberlain, SD 57325-0731
WaterGirl
@Mary G: I teared up when I read this part:
WaterGirl
@RaflW: As donations come in, I am lowering the amount that shows up in the sidebar, just above the thermometer. (Changing in increments of ~ $500.)
raven
in
Comrade Colette
Donated. Thanks for the nudge. These folks are great – and you are awesome for leading this charge.
MomSense
@Mary G:
Not sure how I feel about the whole lottery thing, but here in Maine we are giving hunting and fishi by licenses. LL Bean is giving gift cards, Sea Dogs are giving tickets to baseball games, and the Oxford Speedway is giving tickets to racing events. The response has been really positive.
debbie
@MomSense:
Here, vaccination rates have increased for both the over- and under-21 crowd:
link
I’ll take any increases we can get.
dmsilev
@Mary G: Per the LA Times, the big prizes are for everyone who has been vaccinated:
The grocery gift cards are for new vaccinations though.
UncleEbeneezer
Is there a recording of the zoom meeting those of us who couldn’t attend could watch? Or maybe a summary post planned?
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer:
I think it would be hard to summarize.
There is an audio recording, that’s the good news. But this was the first zoom I’ve hosted and I didn’t think to pause the recording before the 30 minutes of chit chat and occasional silences, and then turn it on at 7:30, which was the official start time.
So I’m hoping there is a way to edit the file, though I suppose one could fast forward. If anyone knows how to do that, chime in please!
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: The Zoom recording apparently is just an MP4 file. Almost any standard video editing software should be able to edit it. ZoomBlog.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
MazeDancer
Four Directions offers huge bang for your buck. And not just matching.
They bring in “extra” votes. That can be, as in AZ, greater than the margin of victory.
Plus they bring in these extra votes for insanely low cost. And they employ Native workers, so you get to elect Dems and feed people at the same time.
They are a remarkable org out truly saving Democracy.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: thank you.
I have never edited video, but how hard can it be? :-)
Mary G
Henry Kissinger has finally died and I do not wish him to rest in peace.
MazeDancer
@Mary G: His brother died, not the war criminal himself.
H.E.Wolf
Alas, it was his brother Walter who died.
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf:
“Because I am the Kissinger who listens.”
That’s a great story.
WaterGirl
@MazeDancer:
I meant to highlight that in the post, but then got distracted. Thanks for noting that here.
Isua
Just put in $25, my second-ever political donation (the first was to Four Directions before the election, thanks to Balloon Juice.) Thank you Four Directions for the work you’re doing!
Almost Retired
That was an excellent presentation and discussion. Water girl did a fabulous job of organizing and moderating the event. I know United Way and Red Cross are great and all that, but small organizations like Four Directions with a focused mission and a passionate staff and donor base are so much more inspiring.
Unique uid
I’m probably delusional, but I thought the matching donations person had gone up to $75K?
Good to see some faces and hear the chitchats. Great gang here
WaterGirl
@Unique uid: No, you are not delusional. I’ll spare you the details, but there was a slight mismatch between when the donor thought the clock started and when Four Directions thought the clock started, so that changed things a bit.
We’ll see what happens after they hit 50k!
Richard Guhl
I got a thank you email from Lewis Cohen, the Four Directions finance director, for my contribution.
WaterGirl
@Richard Guhl: Nice!
WaterGirl
We met our 15,000 goal in the BJ Four Directions thermometer!
Go jackals!