The first week of Dem NC for Pitt County was very interesting. We are very fortunate to have Shaunee as our field organizer. She is awesome at what she does. Tuesday started off with us finding our office and immediately starting to plan how to decorate. We brought in plants (affectionately named Clementine & Fern) , posters, office supplies and of course snacks. Our first day on the job also meant our first day of phone banking, which went pretty good. I had a couples of mistake one including Shaunee and I having a moment of confusion and I ended up hanging up on a voicemail. I called them back though. Throughout the week we had many one-on-ones with very interesting citizens. We met Ms. Pat Seibert in Washington on the waterfront. With a storm fast approaching we decided against good judgment to sit out by the water and meet. And sure enough one by one then hundreds by hundreds by hundreds the raindrops came. We rushed to a nearby café where we were soaked some more until decided to go in and have lunch. Ms. Pat is a Dem NC Board Secretary and a committed activist in Washington NC. She fittingly was wearing a “Stop bitching and Start a Revolution” t-shirt, right away I knew we would all get along great. We spoke of her past in activism and organizing in Eastern NC. Ms. Seibert also gave us advice about Lobby Day and how to interact with our lovely legislators. She was a great person to meet and had much wisdom to share. Also last week we meet Mr. John Comer, a representative of People of Faith against the Death Penalty, he was advocating reducing the death penalty and eventually doing away with it all together. We had a “heated” conversation outside about the conditions and the way politics is affecting the minority citizens here. It wasn’t exactly “heated” it was just 98.9 degrees outside and we, excluding Shaunee, were literally melting under the sun. But overall it was a very good meeting and we made a promising contact. We also met Pastor Coles who is heavily involved in the Greenville community, his organization Church Outreach Network deals with homelessness and resolving issues plaguing Pitt County by reaching citizens through the help of Christ.
Overall the first week was a great start to the summer. We are still just as busy this week and enjoying each other’s company along the way
Go Dem NC Summer 2010! Greenville Team Rocks!
-Joyce
1/3 of Greenville Dem NC Summer 2010
It was such a pleasure spending the afternoon during a downpour with Shaunee, Joyce and Ana last week.We definitely got rained on and didn’t stop talking till we sadly parted, them to go back to Greenville and me to pick up my CSA basket and home to try to find zucchini recipes that my husband, Lonnie, will eat. So far no luck. Ana and Joyce, with Shaunee’s direction are doing so much in such a short time to spread the word about Democracy NC. You go girls.
Phonebanking is the lifeblood of any grassroots cause. Although painful, it is a rite that all who mean to good must go through. Kudos!