 | | | | Busy, Busy, Busy
What an awesome and busy month September turned out to be! We hosted Mayor Donna Deegan for our first post-pandemic in-person luncheon and enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with fellow members. Our Voter Registration volunteers were on the campuses of Jacksonville University and University of North Florida offering registration services to students but also finding out what issues matter to them that will bring them to the ballot box. Our Voter Registration Director, Rhona DiCamillo was diligent in getting us back into the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to register our newest citizens. We collaborated with Repairers of the Breach for a local march and rally to bring attention to the ongoing voter suppression, attacks on education, government overreach in the care of children, and the loss of personal freedoms in reproductive health. We established our Reproductive Health and Justice Committee, Chaired by Wendy Snee. Our Education Action Team engaged the school board and enticed community members to participate in the survey to help select the next DCPS Superintendent. And, we collaborated with other organizations to send postcards to returning citizens to help them access the League's pro bono legal services for restoration of voting rights.
October looks to be quite an exciting and busy time for us too! We are hosting our very own Juanita Powell-Williams, First Vice President of ASALH for the October luncheon. We will be collaborating with local organizations to get more postcards out to returning citizens. We'll be working with other local organizations to provide voter registration and engagement at Edward Waters University's homecoming and supporting various LGBTQ voter registration engagements. And, we'll also be participating in Get Out The Vote (GOTV) training hosted by LWVUS in Orlando as we prepare for busy, exciting and challenging 2024 elections. |  | In the midst of all this work towards a better democracy, we will pause for our Membership Appreciation Luncheon on October 14th at noon at the beautiful University of North Florida campus. So often, we have members who are engaged in one aspect of our work or another but don't get the opportunity to meet or hear about the great work that is being done across the chapter. Our Appreciation Luncheon gives us an opportunity to meet each other, appreciate each other's contributions and invite friends, family or neighbors to celebrate with us or join in our work. We hope you will join us and will bring a guest or two.
As President of our Chapter, I am humbled that so many fellow citizens offer up their time, talent and resources to support the work of the League and the vision that together, we can create a more perfect democracy for all people.
Lanelle Phillmon, LWVJFC President | | |
Membership Appreciation Luncheon
Join the League of Women Voters of Jacksonville/First Coast as we celebrate the many contributions of our members over the past year! This event gives us an opportunity to show appreciation for our members, to learn more about the League's work and to share a delicious lunch.
The Membership Appreciation Luncheon will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2023 at noon at the UNF Adam W. Herbert University Center at 12000 Alumni Drive, Room 1027, Jacksonville, FL 32224. This event is open to League members, their guests, and members of the public.
Debbie Chandler, Co-President, League of Women Voters of Florida will serve as our guest speaker and help us recognize the most valuable resource to the League: Our members!
The menu selection for the luncheon includes Spinach and Strawberry salad with raspberry vinaigrette, steamed jasmine rice, and a sauteed vegetable blend. Dessert will be Cheesecake with blueberries or Chocolate layer cake. Main dish options of Bean Cassoulet, Apricot and Ginger Salmon or Chicken Piccata can be selected when you purchase your ticket ($30).
Seating is limited and registration ends October 8, 2023. REGISTER HERE |  | Voter Registration Committee News
Thank you to all the members of the Voter Registration Committee for stepping up to volunteer at all our events in September. Together we registered over 100 people and provided voter registration information to many more.
Do you speak another language? We are looking for those fluent in a second language to join us at upcoming voter registration events.
To see all volunteer opportunities coming up in October- go to lwvjaxfc.org and click on "member login." Once you are logged in - you can either go to the calendar and click on an event or go to volunteering under the member tab. If you would like to join us at future events as part of the Voter Registration Team, please reach out to our Voter Registration Director, Rhona DiCamillo at lwvjaxfcvote@gmail.com. | Come Join Us For The Veterans Day Parade
We will be walking in the Veterans Day Parade in downtown Jacksonville November 11, 2023 at noon. There are over 140,000 Veterans in the North Florida area, all of whom are voting age. While some Veterans are from Florida or have changed their residency to Florida, others may be newly relocated to the area and not aware of the requirement to register to vote by mail or of the upcoming elections. We will walk the parade route with military units, bands and Veterans organizations and will hand out voter registration information to help create awareness.
A number of our League members are Veterans or have Veteran family members. We hope that all League members will join us for the parade. Our Veterans have sworn an oath to defend freedom and democracy around the world and the League is proud to help our Veterans participate in the democratic process of free and fair elections here at home.
Keep an eye out for an announcement and sign -up email coming soon. | | Postcarding in St. Augustine
On Wednesday Sept 27th, League member Pamela Mirelson hosted neighbors and friends from various social groups to address postcards to returning citizens in Florida. The postcards included information on resources and instructions on how to contact pro-bono attorneys for guidance on the process of becoming eligible again to vote in Florida. The group carefully entered the recipients's addresses, attached postage and wrote encouraging notes on the postcards. The group of 17 people met their goal of completing 1,000 postcards in the afternoon. The League of Women Voters of JFC is hoping to plan other postcarding events to meet the LWVFL goal of sending 18,000 postcards throughout the state by the end of the year. Thanks to Pamela for organizing this group and LWVJFC for supplying the materials. | | | | Fleet Landing Unit News
The Fleet Landing Unit met with their representative, Kiyan Michael. They discussed legislation that directly affects their district, including bills that ban local referendums and local rent control.
Representative Michael agreed that it is important to protect local control. | | | |
LWV of Florida Supports Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion
A coalition entitled “Floridians Protecting Freedom” has launched a citizen-led ballot initiative campaign to give women the right to seek abortions up to viability. Florida voters want women to have the chance to ensure that their personal medical decisions are theirs and theirs alone to make. The League of Women Voters of Florida Board of Directors has voted to support this citizen initiative effort.
| | Florida Right to Clean and Healthy Waters Petition | | |
The League of Women Voters of Florida has endorsed the Right to Clean and Healthy Waters petition and we will be gathering petitions in our four counties (Clay, Duval, Nassau and St Johns). We only have until November 2023 to gather the mandatory minimum number of petitions (891,589) across the state.
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New Members - Welcome aboard!
Sharon Fogarty
Mari Ganues
Erika and Blaine Kristo
Laurie Lee
Pamela Mirelson
Janet Neznek
Lynn Rogers
Nancy Wilkov
Lisa Wright
Interested in being part of the League? Click JOIN NOW | Donations are always appreciated!
We wish to acknowledge and thank those who have made donations this month:
Donna Padgug
Our website lwvjaxfc.org offers an easy way to make donations to LWVJFC, even if you prefer to pay by check. Click on the red "Donate" button at the top of the Homepage. | Volunteers are needed!
Quite often, our League needs volunteers to help with small tasks that are not time consuming but vital to our leadership and membership.
If you are willing to help make phone calls, be trained to send text messages, or assist in other ways, please contact us and let us help you figure out how to invest your time in our League and our democracy.
Contact Lanelle at lwvjaxfc@gmail.com to discuss topics and abilities.
For more specific volunteer tasks, click HERE.
| | | | Local
Stay up-to-date on all local upcoming events on the LWV of Jacksonville / First Coast:
• Website
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
Regional
The Regional Facebook Group, LWV Florida North Region Leagues, includes Alachua, Bay, Jacksonville/First Coast, Okaloosa & Walton, Pensacola Bay Area, and Tallahassee.
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Contact Us!
Phone: 904-355-8683
Email: LWVJAXFC@gmail.com
Postal Address:
League of Women Voters of Jacksonville First Coast
PO Box 330353
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 | | | | The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy. | | |
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