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FEATURED IN THIS WEEK’S MVCAN NEWS:        

• CONGRESSMAN JARED HUFFMAN ADDRESSES A FULL HOUSE

• EARTH DAY W/ ECO-WARRIORS  - Sun. April 22  
  

• HELP CREATE AN ART FLOAT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
  

• DISTRICT ATTORNEY CANDIDATES’ FORUM - Sat. April 28

• CANVASSING IN CD-10 WITH SWING LEFT MARIN - Many Dates Available!

• MVCAN PHONE AND TEXT BANKING - Multiple Dates!

• CIVIL RIGHTS NEWS: SUPPORT IMMIGRANTS AT RISK OF DETENTION
  AND DEPORTATION - Volunteers Needed!

• REPORT BACK: ROCK THE CONGRESS IN SF Mar. 24

• ROCK THE CONGRESS IN NAPA - Sun. April 15
  

• REPORT BACK: MARCH FOR OUR LIVES Mar. 24

• AIRLIFT HOUSE PARTY SUCCESS

• MVCAN HELP WANTED

CONGRESSMAN HUFFMAN ADDRESSES FULL HOUSE!

Congressman Jared Huffman. Photo: Martha Ture.

MVCAN's Bernard Catalinotto and Marin Supervisor Kate Sears. Photo: Martha Ture.

More than 120 MVCAN members came to hear Congressman Jared Huffman at the MVCAN meeting on April 4.

We had an informative and exciting exchange with our special guest Congressman Jared Huffman at our April 4 monthly meeting. After lauding MVCAN for its broad and successful grassroots work, he asserted that MVCAN is the multigenerational counterpart to the activist students of Parkland!

Jared fielded spontaneous questions from our members for forty minutes. We were rapt as he addressed a wide range of issues and delivered insightful and well-informed answers. He made clear that MVCAN’s contribution to the new political climate, along with other groups, was making a big impact on the political landscape, especially on the electoral map.

Thanks also to our County Supervisor, Kate Sears, who gave an exciting overview of “Drawdown Marin” the innovative county-wide plan to reduce environmental impacts.

Kudos to Chris Lydon, our meeting organizer and MC.

MVCAN's Marilyn Price and June Cooperman with Congressman Huffman.

MVCAN members at meeting. Photo: Martha Ture.

COME CELEBRATE EARTH DAY SUN. APRIL 22!

The MVCAN Eco-Warriors will be enthusiastically co-presenting this event with Democracy Cafe and Tam Makers at our first-ever MV Earth Day Celebration, taking place at Tam High School.

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION

Sun. April 22, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Tam High School Student Center, 700 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley

RSVP Here (Tickets free of charge)

MVCAN Eco Team will be involved in the following activities:

-   Leading a Native-American blessing

-   Presenting short films

-   Electric vehicle displays and demos

-   Live performances from singers of all ages, including a sing-along,

-   Hosting over a dozen environmental organizations

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

With all these action packed events, we urgently need MVCAN volunteers to make sure it all runs smoothly.

Our Eco Warrior team is calling on MVCAN members to jump in and help on the day of the event.

Can you help?  Please email Jenny or Marilyn. Thank you!

HELP CREATE AN ART FLOAT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Would you like to help build, paint or host our Art Float for Social Change this month?

We are creating this parade float at Tam High School, with a growing team of community members and high school students. We will present the float on Earth Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades in Marin.

Our volunteer team builds the float on Thursdays, 4 to 9pm -- and Saturdays, 10am to 4pm, through the end of April. We work at Tam Makers, in the Tam High School Wood Shop, Room 416 at the top of the campus (see directions).

You can help in many ways: make art posters or signs, build float parts, paint them, assemble and set up the float, perform short songs, speeches or poems, take photos and videos, promote and host our shows.

Take a look at our photos then sign up here to join us!  

For more information or questions, email float@tammakers.org

Hear from and question your Marin County District Attorney candidates. The powerful post of District Attorney is open for the first time in many years. Let’s participate and find out about which candidates reflect our progressive values regarding justice, immigration, and incarceration.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY CANDIDATES’ FORUM
Sat. April 28, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Marin City Recreation Center

This event is sponsored by ISOJI Marin City, in partnership with MVCAN and Indivisible Sausalito, and support from the Marin City Community Services District.

There are lots of great opportunities coming up to canvass voters in CD10 (Tracy, Modesto, Turlock) to help flip Congress in the 2018 midterms. Volunteers will lay the groundwork for unseating Jeff Denham (R) by visiting Democratic voters as part of a locally-based effort to activate them prior to the election.  

Under the auspices of Swing Left Marin, we have multiple chances to canvass and register voters. So pick some dates that work for you and join us! We can and will make the difference in 2018!

The Tracy Dems. "GO Team", which coordinates activities with Swing Left Marin in Tracy, requires a monthly commitment for canvassing. (You can share the commitment with another person, for example, canvassing in alternating months).

You can come for an initial canvassing day and "test drive", whether or not you want to commit to canvassing one day a month going forward.

No previous experience is needed - training will be provided.

SAT. APRIL 14 AND ALL 2ND SATURDAYS  - 11:00 AM TRACY

MOST OF THE VOLUNTEERS FOR SECOND SATURDAYS ARE MVCAN MEMBERS. Come with us and MVCANVASS!

To register and find out about carpooling, contact MVCAN member Larry Litvak.

Sponsored by Swing Left Marin/MVCAN

Also, check out these other options:

SUN. APRIL 1 AND ALL 1ST SUNDAYS - 1:00 pm Tracy

Email Bridget Gleason (Swing Left Marin lead) for info.

SAT. APRIL 21 AND ALL 3RD SATURDAYS - 11:00 am Tracy

Email Bridget Gleason for info.

Help register voters with Swing Left Marin in Tracy before the primary election! Our next opportunity has just been made available:

Tracy Voter Registration - Sat. April 14, 9:30 am - 2:00 pm

Register and learn more here.

We may have to place a limit on the number of volunteers we can accept for each event, so please sign up now if you are interested.

PHONE and TEXT BANKING

We've been hosting big crowds at our text/phone banks since February. We have an experienced, seasoned group of phoners and texters who also welcome many new volunteers. Leaders are always on hand to train.

Thanks for all the hard work of our determined volunteers!

We're energizing Democrats in red states and districts across the country!

We have a few upcoming opportunities to build on our momentum and call or text voters to VOTE THEM OUT!

Here are our upcoming events. Please register at the link to make sure you can participate.

For all our phone and text banks and training, you need to bring your charged cell phone AND your laptop, iPad or tablet, along with earbuds with a mic.

Phone and Text Bank in Sausalito

Join us at our weekly Saturday phone banks! We'll be calling for the Special Congressional Election for AZ-08 April 24, to replace Republican Trent Franks. We'll also offer calls to CA-10 and CA-21. And of course, we'll be texting for Beto O'Rourke in Texas.

Sat. April 7 -  PHONE/TEXT BANK, 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Please click here to register and for details /directions.

Sat. April 14 - PHONE/TEXT BANK, 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Please click here to register and for details/directions.

Join us to call and text voters in Swing States and flippable Districts!

Phone and Text Bank in San Rafael

Wed. April 11 - PHONE/TEXT BANK, 4:00 - 6:00 pm

Please register here.

We'll be calling all the flippable California Congressional Districts. We'll be calling for the Special Congressional Election for AZ-08 April 24, to replace Republican Trent Franks. We'll also offer calls to CA-10 and CA-21.

For more information about dates and phone/text banks, click here.

MVCAN is co-hosting this phone/text bank at Marin Democrats' new headquarters on 4th St. in San Rafael! The office is at 1344 4th St. (at D) in San Rafael and will be open Wed. - Sun.12:00 pm - 6:00 pm.

Phone Bank in Corte Madera

Mon. April 16 - PHONE BANK, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Please join us at Jan's home in Corte Madera to call for the Special Congressional Election for AZ-08 April 24, to replace Republican Trent Franks.

Please click here to register and get more details/directions.

To support our immigrant communities in very difficult and uncertain times, the MVCAN Civil Rights/Immigration team is working together with the Canal Welcome Center’s Marin Rapid Response Network.

A few weeks ago we  saw ICE activity in Marin. Parents became so fearful they kept their children home from school. Read here.

HOTLINE cards are being distributed with concise directions for folks to follow should they encounter immigration officials.

Some members of the Civil Rights/Immigration team are now trained by Marin Rapid Response Network to become Legal Observers to help monitor ICE activity. When ICE activity is reported, trained Legal Observers will be deployed to a specific area within Marin County to "document" the situation.  You do not need to have a legal background or be bilingual to become a Legal Observer.  

WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS. Come help us keep the ICE honest and within the law!

Join an hour-and-a-half training session:

 

Training Dates for Legal Observer Volunteers

Wed. April 18, 6:00 - 7:30 pm

Training Location:  

First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael, Canoles Hall

510 Fifth Ave, San Rafael  

For more information, email Olivia Beltran or call (415) 526-2486 x 303

"Thanks to MVCAN for all the great support." – Olivia Beltran, Canal Welcome Center

We all sometimes get singularly focused on our own activities, so Rock the Congress gave activists an opportunity to lean in, learn and share with great people we’ve never met. Congressman Eric Swalwell spoke about how we can elect  great Democrats to office.

If you missed the ROCK THE CONGRESS in San Francisco last week - you will have another chance to join in at the NAPA ROCK THE CONGRESS on Sun, April 15th.

Come and listen to Becky Bond, advisor to Bernie Sanders; Donnie Fowler, co-founder of Dem Labs; Heather Hargreaves, EVP at NextGen America; and Mike Thompson, Congressman from CA-5.

ROCK THE CONGRESS IN NAPA
Sun. April 15, 8:00 AM – 4:45 PM
CIA at Copia, 500 1st Street
Napa, CA

Great speakers, great food, breakout sessions for everyone from the newest volunteer to seasoned group leaders. Meet like-minded, energetic progressive activists, learn from them, establish relationships that are helpful in the political fights but also sometimes ripen into real friendships.

Get tickets here.

MVCAN Freedom Singers at the March for our Lives in SF March 24. Photo: Marilyn Price.

MVCAN Freedom Singers at the March for our Lives in SF March 24. Photo: Marilyn Price.

At San Francisco Civic Center on March 24, dozens of MVCANers gathered to honor the students protesting for gun safety. Many of us marched along with the fabulous Marin-based Freedom Singers and sang all the way down Market Street.

By all accounts, the steady stream of protests since the Nov. 2016 election have been working. Stay tuned to learn about more MVCAN protests and actions.

    MVCAN Members boarding busses for the March in Marin City. Photo: Jarion Monroe.

AIRLIFT.FUND:

WHERE YOUR MONEY CAN MAKE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE

Talking money and politics at an Airlift house party this week. Thanks to our wonderful sponsors Liz Schumacher, Marissa Wertheimer, and Jenny Tomkins. Learn more about getting money directly to grassroots groups on the ground at airlift.fund.

MVCAN HELP WANTED

Can you spare a couple hours a week to help your local Resistance group at this important time? Debra, our new Volunteer Coordinator, will help you match your skills and talents to our needs. Contact volunteer@mvcan.org. Thank you!