08/06/2010

Action Alert Responses

Recently, I was reminded of a defining moment in our history--by woman not unlike some of us, our mothers or grandmothers who had the audacity to make a request for the right to vote. After picketing the White House, these suffragists were rewarded with imprisonment and on November 15th, 1917 beaten by forty prison guards wielding clubs, leaving some women, like Dora Lewis lying unconscious and feared dead. Their offense? Obstruction of sidewalk traffic. Yet they were not silenced, their unified voices resulted in the passage of our 19th constitutional amendment, giving women the right to vote in these United States. Just 90 years ago this past August, women and men across the United States celebrated this triumph.

Today, we have an opportunity to discuss issues important to the health of our great nation, but it's up to you and me to share our views on these issues! We lead hectic lives with ever tightening budgets - both at work and at home. Our time is precious, but if we wait to respond, we lose our collective "voice." Issues that have rarely come up in legislation are being presented to us - issues we have stated as being vitally important.

ADA tracked responses to the recent Action Alert for protecting preventive and public health funding in the Affordable Care Act. Our collective response through the ADA Grassroots Manager indicated 1248 Action Alerts were sent by ADA members. The top tier state results may surprise you: Connecticut members sent 117 letters; California members sent 112 letters; Minnesota and Pennsylvania members sent 83 letters, respectively; Illinois members sent 63 letters, New York members sent 60 letters and Ohio members sent 53 letters in response to the ADA Action Alert.

THANK YOU to all that participated as we were successful, but the voting was close. I'm proud of Ohio RDs; however, I know we can do better!

One challenge has been efforts to improve the Grassroots Manager Process making responding to Action Alerts less cumbersome. Mary Pat Raimondi, MS, RD recently informed us that members will now be able to add their credentials after their names and are encouraged to do so! In addition, many members of Congress now use a web-based email system, which required cut and paste maneuvers. It is my understanding that this has been corrected and our letter should automatically load into the alert. ADA will continue work on enhancements to the Grassroots Manager to make it user-friendly to ADA members.

Now, what will you do when the next Action Alert hits your email box? Please don't let another opportunity pass us by.