Chapter Action Report - July 2011

By: Kelly Cook, National Field Director We just received a great tip from the host of the Open Fuel Standard Act website! This congressional bill represents the highest level of priority for ACT! for America's legislative agenda. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine $2.00 gas again. What could you do that you can't do now? What could you afford with what is now being sent to the Saudis and their anti-trust co-conspirators at OPEC? Many are literally grounded to a small geographic area simply because they can't afford the fuel they need to get around. And OPEC is laughing all the way to the bank and….. to their favorite terrorist. We've got big plans for them and it all starts with making oil prices honest—through this critical piece of legislation. Check out this great idea below for promoting the Open Fuel Standard Act and any other worthy national security projects you may want to apply this to! Now you can exponentially expand your circle of influence through the art of persuasion utilizing this process. Guerrilla Marketing for the Open Fuel Standard Posted: 25 Jul 2011 02:34 PM PDT Do you want to wake more people up to the possibilities of the Open Fuel Standard? You can begin your own guerrilla marketing campaign right from your computer. Here's how. First, sign up for Google News Alerts. It's easy to sign up and it's free. Use the keywords "national security" and click the option to send you something every day. When it sends you articles about national security, go to the article and see if you can make a comment on it. If so, let people know we have a piece of legislation that would do wonders for our national security. Explain the concept. Leave links. Do your best persuasion job. If you want to do more, you can sign up for as many Google News Alerts as you want. Add one for "economic recovery" and "energy independence." And so on. When you put in these search terms, use quotation marks so you'll only get articles with those two words in that order rather than articles that just happen to include both the words used separately (read more about that). It's a good way to narrow down your searching to just what you're looking for. Let's get the word out. Not enough people know the Open Fuel Standard Act exists. We need more recruits pushing their representatives to co-sponsor the bill. ♦ Email this ♦ Email the author ♦ Digg This! ♦ Share on Facebook ♦ Stumble It! ♦ Post to Google Buzz ♦ Save to del.icio.us Please Note: Due to an unfortunate situation regarding booking Dave Gaubatz to speak to a recent chapter meeting in California, we are cautioning chapter leaders to refrain from booking him until the current situation is resolved. When Gaubatz resolves this to our satisfaction, we will re-evaluate our recommendation status of him on our suggested speakers list for chapter meetings. For a current list of speakers please click here. Congratulations go to Ray Hanna and the volunteers in the ACT Boston chapter! The Boston area has just exploded with growth under Ray's capable leadership. Early on in his chapter leader experience, Ray received wise advice from the leader of one of our largest chapters, "Ray, just forwarding emails won't effectively penetrate your community with what needs to happen. You need to have regular meetings, energize your volunteers and really let your area know that you're here and you mean business". (Paraphrase) Ray Hanna has taken this to heart and never looked back. To see such momentum in an area like New England is really encouraging. This illustrates that a true national security message will attract all parts of the political spectrum. Some of ACT Boston's recent projects and victories include: Successfully booking 3 large churches to host Brigitte Gabriel and Guy Rodgers in Boston and Concord, New Hampshire for October. (Details to follow!) Protested at Weston High School against MSA coming into the school. Working closely with our allies: Americans for Peace and Tolerance, Rabbi Jon Hausman, CJUI and the Greater Boston Tea Parties. Spoken at the Waltham, Boston and Leominster Tea Party meetings to educate on National Security. Has conducted numerous radio interviews with local and international conservative talk shows. Assisted in formation of two new local chapters with two more on the way. ACT Boston will be hosting our Executive Staff at our Citizen In Action Training Seminar in early November! (Details to follow!) As you can see, Ray and his dedicated volunteers do mean business. As you go about representing ACT! for America in your area, remember that they've "got us covered" in Boston! We are so pleased to be able to report this exciting growth! On the subject of chapter meetings… Remember, education alone is not sufficient at our chapter meetings. We are ACT! for America. We want to make a lasting difference on the entire cultural and political landscape for generations to come. We are making a difference, not just a statement! Therefore, please integrate both education and worthy projects for your chapter meetings. Here's three great options for doing so: 1) For larger chapters, consider have a major educational event with a guest speaker approximately 4 times per year. Then fill in the rest of your chapter meetings throughout the year as working meetings designed for your core group of volunteers where you tackle important local and national projects. 2) Another option to achieve this balance is to have two sections of your regular meetings. For instance, start at 6:00 PM for your core group of activists and tackle your committee and project work at this time. At 7:30 PM, hold the educational part of the meeting where you would review the critical issues at hand. Perhaps you would have a guest speaker or a film at this time. 3) The last option is to simply rotate back and forth every other month between project meetings and educational meetings. By utilizing one of these methods, you will be able to maintain the critical balance of education and results. Without this balance, many chapters will dwindle and fade out over a few years. We are about making a difference, not just a statement! Chapter Grants Update By Kelly Cook, National Field Director Our chapter grant application process is now half completed for the year 2011! To date, we have received numerous worthy grant applications for great projects. If you are interested in receiving one of the rewards for recruiting Chapter Leaders (see link below). Please submit first and last names to sterek@actforamerica.org of ALL new Chapter Leaders you have recruited the last 6 months (January-June 2011). You must have recruited at least 3 Chapter Leaders during the 6 month period to qualify. REMINDER! The new 6 month period started in July. If you are the winner for Chapter recruitment for the second half of the year, you win an expense paid trip to the National Conference. Details are on link below. If you are unfamiliar with our Chapter Grant Application process, Click Here for a complete rundown. Essentially, I have a $20,000 budget item per year to go towards worthy chapter projects. Each quarter, we award approximately $5,000. Thanks go to those chapters who filed their grant application the 24th of June. Next application deadline is Saturday, September 24. Here are just a couple of awards we are granting for the 2nd quarter's applications: 1) Craig Finley, New Jersey! $500.00 (Total project estimated cost: $1,000) Craig has designed a program to educate local law enforcement, clergy and government about the dangers of sharia law. We are awarding him this amount to go towards his expenses in this endeavor which will include necessary audio visual equipment to present a professional presentation. 2) Dr. Aarti Lakshmanan, South Africa! $800.00 (Total project estimated cost: $2,000) Aarti will be hosting two ACT! for South Africa conferences in Joburg and Cape Town. The conferences will include influential and prominent guests and serve to introduce and further promote ACT! for America to the people of South Africa and start an awareness campaign regarding the spread of sharia law in Africa. We look forward to seeing your application for your chapter by September 24th!

ACT for America P.O. Box 12765 Pensacola, FL 32591 www.actforamerica.org ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. We are only as strong as our supporters, and your volunteer and financial support is essential to our success. Thank you for helping us make America safer and more secure. The news items, blogs, educational materials and other information in our emails and on our website are only intended to provide information, news and commentary on events and issues related to the threat of radical Islam. Much of this information is based upon media sources, such as the AP wire services, newspapers, magazines, books, online news blog and news services, and radio and television, which we deem to be reliable. However, we have undertaken no independent investigation to verify the accuracy of the information reported by these media sources. We therefore disclaim all liability for false or inaccurate information from these media sources. We also disclaim all liability for the third-party information that may be accessed through the material referenced in our emails or posted on our website. HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOUR ORGANIZATION? Click here to give an online donation.