Please help with the Cold Weather Shelter if you can. Details below. Thanks.

pat

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From: Naomi Swinton
Date: December 9, 2008 1:34:29 AM MST

Subject: Samaritan House Cold Weather Shelter Update

Dear Friends --

The First Presbyterian Church has extended the stay of the Samaritan House Cold Weather Shelter through January 4th! We are very grateful for their generosity. Tonight there are nine people staying at the shelter. Thank you to everyone who has contributed food, clothes, toiletries, blankets, towels, and other items, and to everyone who has volunteered.

We are planning two volunteer trainings soon, but if you\'d like to volunteer for an early or late shift before attending a training we will pair you with someone who has done it before, and we can also give anyone interested a brief tour and orientation most evenings at 6:30 pm. Typically the volunteers open up at 6:30 and guests arrive from 7 - 9 pm. The evening volunteers serve hot drinks, a few snacks, and spend some time talking and watching a movie with the guests. Cots are set up upstairs and usually everyone is in bed pretty early. The late shift volunteers come between 9:30 and 11:30 and stay on cots downstairs. They wake up the guests at 6:30 am and serve a light breakfast and do a quick clean up. The guests leave at 7 am. We still need volunteers this week for Thursday night late shift (one needed), Friday night late shift (two needed), Saturday early and late (one), and Sunday and Monday early and late shifts. To sign up, please call me at 454 4228 or send an email. We would like to invite organizations to staff a night regularly; if your church or school or club could take that on, please let me know. You can check the schedule online by going to the UWC-USA Bartos website at http://www.uwc-usa.org/cec/index.htm. Click on the Cold Weather Shelter Schedule link and once there, if you click on \"week\" for the weekly view you will see volunteer names listed for each evening and night shift, or blanks where we are still in need of volunteers. A paper schedule is also at the church.

Many of you have dropped off food and other donations. Thank you! We are still in need of a few items: more cots; more blankets, more pillows, two reading lamps, men\'s socks and winter jackets. These items can be dropped off at Samaritan House (on Bernalillo Street) or at the First Presbyterian Church.

We could also use some helpers with tasks besides volunteering. A local rancher has donated some wonderful organic beef; we could use some help cooking it up into stew or casseroles. If you are able to pick up laundry and do a couple loads that would be a big help as well. Financial donations will be put to use to help people with special needs or emergency situations. Please help us get the word out to other people and organizations.

This is a very gratifying, tangible project. We have been amazed by everyone\'s generosity and willingness to help. Thank you!

Naomi Swinton
(505) 454 4228
naomi.swinton at uwc-usa.org

THANKSGIVING DAY by John McCutcheon

Chorus: Thankful for the food
Thankful for the company
Thankful for the things
That we do and say
Thankful for the friends
Thankful for the family
Glad to be together
On Thanksgiving Day

On the edge of season here in late November
Autumn nearly over and winter in the air
We have good reason to pause and remember
The blessing that we share

Chorus

Let us remember those gone before us
The ones with the brain and the strength and the might
Showed us the way, laid it before us
Turned the darkness into light

Chorus

Let us imagine those still in waiting
The ones who look so open-eyed
Those who\'ll one day rise before us
Strong and proud prepared to guide

Chorus

May the ways that we treat others
Be the measure of our worth
May our memory be a blessing
On the future of this earth

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THANKS A LOT by Raffi (1980)

Thanks a lot...
Thanks for the sun in the sky...
Thanks a lot...
Thanks for the clouds so high...
Thanks for the whispering wind...
Thanks for the birds in the spring...
Thanks for the moonlit night...
Thanks for the stars so bright...
Thanks for the wonder in me...
Thanks for the way I feel...
Thanks for the animals, thanks for the land, thanks for the people everywhere...
Thanks for all I’ve got.

THANK YOU -- A big thanks to all of our Voter Action volunteers who made Election Day 2008 a success here in New Mexico.

As a team, we accomplished a lot and were able to help many voters immediately resolve problems. First a bit of history -- After the 2004 presidential election, volunteers across the state gathered to try and better understand the voting irregularities and disenfranchisement caused by unreliable electronic voting machines. This year-long citizen-led effort resulted in the problematic systems being replaced by a more verifiable, reliable paper ballot voting system, making New Mexico a leader in the country on reclaiming our voting rights.

Voter Action NM Watch the Vote 2008 had 120 volunteers (Voter Action Election Verifiers) on the ground in New Mexico on Election Day, November 4, 2008. A total of 203 precincts were covered in the following counties: Sandoval (4% coverage), Bernalillo (10% coverage), Santa Fe (70% coverage), Taos (81% coverage), San Miguel (97% coverage) and Los Alamos (100% coverage).

With the guidance of the Voter Action national coordinators, the support of the law offices of David Garcia in Santa Fe, the work of the NM statewide coordinators (Pat Leahan and Arielle Hawney), and our county-level coordinators (Maria Santelli, Bernalillo County; Sonya Berg, Bob and Carrol Pearson, San Miguel County; Tony Isaacs, Taos County; David and Galila Harrington, Los Alamos County; and Robin Laughlin, Santa Fe County), our 120 Election Verifiers successfully monitored 203 precincts, and our statewide and county coordinators fielded hundreds of phone calls on Election Day in New Mexico.

Due to the work of our awesome team (that\'s you!), we were able to address many issues on Election Day 2008. Here is a sampling:

~ Absentee ballots: Voters who lost or never received their absentee ballots were being sent home by presiding judges and poll workers to look for them, or were being given provisional ballots. We were able to intervene by calling County Clerks who in turn corrected the poll workers and judges, allowing these voters to cast \"in lieu of\" absentee ballots;

~ Provisional ballots: A number of voters were being given provisional ballots because they were told they were not in the voter registration database. We were able to call the County Clerks and verify that those voters were in fact legally registered. Those voters were then able to cast a regular paper ballot;

~ Precinct and polling location visibility: Voters at a number of precincts had been sent by robo-calls to the wrong precinct. Others were unable to find their polling location due to inadequate signage or their precinct being moved to another location. We were able to contact County Clerks and Bureau of Elections Supervisors to improve precinct visibility and hang signs properly directing voters;

~ Machine breakdowns: We were able to document ES&S M-100 optical scan and AUTOMark machine breakdowns, and in some cases, our Election Verifiers were able to observe the handling of the ballots during the breakdown and repair;

~ Voter disenfranchisement: In situations where we were unable to help resolve the voter\'s problem immediately, we filed incident reports and will follow up to determine the root causes of the problems and what needs to be done to prevent this voter disenfranchisement in the future. For example, a number of ex-felons who met all criteria for restoration of their voter rights were denied access to the ballot by the New Mexico Secretary of State\'s office. In at least five of these cases, we were able to confirm with County Clerks that these ex-felons were indeed legitimate voters, but the Secretary of State\'s office refused to let them vote;

~ Voter education: In seven NM counties, we distributed non-partisan literature, including the NM Voter Bill of Rights and Know Your Voting Rights flyers with action steps for voters to take to ensure that their ballots were properly cast in this election;

~ And more.

Many New Mexico voters were helped by our dedicated team of volunteers who gave so much of their time to help make Election Day run smoothly.

This is the change we need to see – citizens like you fully engaged in our elections. We are grateful to all of you for your efforts. Collectively, we were able to make a difference. Democracy is a participatory exercise which requires ongoing oversight. Once again, you have helped New Mexico lead the way for meaningful and fundamental change. Here\'s to election integrity. Thank you!

With Deep Gratitude,

Pat Leahan and Arielle Hawney
NM Coordinators, Voter Action Watch the Vote 2008

Friends,

This year's November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot is quite extensive. To help us prepare for the election, the links below provide us with some of the information needed to become informed voters.

1. This link includes the NM League of Women Voters online voter's guide, important election dates and times, candidates for statewide offices (U.S. Senator, Justice of the State Supreme Court, and Judge of the State Court of Appeals), amendments and bond issues, and frequently asked questions:

[url]http://www.lwvnm.org/VGuide2008/index .html[/url]


2. This link takes you to a 12-page document provided by the NM Legislative Council Service of the State of New Mexico. It provides a brief analysis, along with arguments for and against each of the 5 proposed Constitutional Amendments:

[url]http://www.sos.state.nm.us/pdf/Const Amendments.pdf [/url]

You can also find the same information at this NM League of Women Voters link:

[url]http://www.lwvnm.org/VGuide2008/amendments .html[/url]

3. This link takes you directly to the NM League of Women Voters guide to the 2008 Capital Projects General Obligation Bond Issues. There are 4 Bond Issues (A, B, C, and D) on November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot:

[url]http://www.lwvnm.org/VGuide2008/bond.htm l[/url]


We hope that folks will take the time to become educated voters. Thank you.

pat leahan

[IMG]http://lvpeacecenter.org/images/stories/EIF.jpg[/IMG]