LWVM Wednesday Luncheons

• Alabama Cooperative Extension System,  Denise Heubach, urban regional extension agent
• Alabama Coastal Foundation, Mark Berte, executive director
• Alabama Coastal Heritage Trust, Hank Caddell, secretary & treasurer
• Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Patti Powell, state lands director
• Coastal Land Trust, Bill Goodloe, vice president
• Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dr. John Valentine, executive director
• Envision Coastal Alabama Environmental Committee, Jennifer Denson, environmental co-chair
• Friends of Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, Lloyd Culp, president
• Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Roberta Swann, director
• Mobile Bay Sierra Club, David Underhill, political & conservation chair
• Mobile Baykeeper, Donna Jordan, program director
• Mobile County Wildlife and Conservation Association, Marl Cummings III, past president, board member
• The Nature Conservancy, Mary Kate Stubljar, coastal conservation specialist
• Partners for Environmental Progress, Jennifer Denson, executive director
• Weeks Bay Foundation, Walter Ernest IV, executive director
• Wolf Bay Watershed Watch, Simone Lipscomb, recording secretary

VOTER SERVICE AND EDUCATION

PRICHARD MAYORAL CANDIDATE FORUM

VOTE411.ORG

• Sept 24             7:30 AM - Baker High School
• Sept 25           11:30 AM - Bishop State Community College Southwest campus - Dauphin Island Parkway -  part of National Voter Registration Day
• Sept 26             9:00 AM - Vigor High School
• Sept 28           10:00 AM - B C Rain - Dauphin Island Parkway - Mr. Lee - alternative school on that campus - single class at this time, but working on other opportunities.
• Oct 2                8:30 AM - Blount High School
• Oct 10              9:30 AM - Career Inc @ Bishop State Community College

VOTE 18

LWVM Continues to Empower Voters

• “Power the Vote” PSA for use in schools and local media.  Student input was key to having peer voices reach other young people in the community to reinforce the message of “Power the Vote”. Listen to the "Power the Vote" PSA. 
• Facebook page to build community around the project and establish transparency as well as reinforcing the need to find nonpartisan information.

• Students were encouraged to check out www.Vote411.org to become informed voters.  The 5 Things to Know About Voting card was given to each participant.  An Extra Credit Vote411 Treasure Hunt Assignment was provided to all participating teachers to encourage students to explore and learn from the website. 

• To inform voters in the general public an Op-Ed article titled “Don’t Vote in the Dark” was published the Sunday before the primary election.

BUILDING ON THE VOTE 18 PROJECT

• Vigor High School Civic Engagement Project - LWV Mobile partnered with C. F. Vigor High School and Emerging ChangeMakers Network to guide a nucleus of student leaders in a student-led civic engagement project by using the planning and production of a mayoral candidate forum as a teaching aid.  Students have identified important problems facing their community, learned about city government, and met with community leaders as preparation for hosting the Prichard, AL candidate forum August 14, 2012, before the municipal elections.  This project was supported with a grant from NeighborWorks America.  Keep up to date with the project through the facebook page.
• The Civil Rights Movement & Today's Young Voters - LWV Mobile partnered with the University of South Alabama’s Communication Department and African-American Studies Program on The Civil Rights Movement and Today’s Young Voters project.  University students have made a documentary film with interviews of surviving local civil rights activists.  The League is scheduling viewings of the film and promoting facilitated dialogue to increase awareness of the fact that voting is real power only when it is used, and encourage today's young people to become tomorrow's lifelong voters and community leaders.  The facilitated discussions help the students/audience connect their own lives and opportunities to the effort and sacrifices of those fought by men and women before them.  Elements of the discussion may include questions such as: Why don’t people vote?  What would their community look like if the civil rights movement had not occurred?  What are the biggest problems they would like addressed in their community? and What might their community look like if everyone voted?  This project is supported with a grant from the Jean O’Connor-Snyder Internship Program.  If you are interested in scheduling a viewing contact Mary McGinnis.

• The Empowering Voters Vote 18 project and other voter education work has created energy and buzz in the community for the League which has helped increased its membership numbers and grow its leadership ranks.