DFA-OC January Meeting

1. December Meeting Update At our December meeting, we promised to send everyone the info on how to be elected an Assembly District Delegate to the State Dem Party for two years. If you are interested in heading to Sacramento for the State Convention, where you represent you Assembly District with 11 other elected delegates, then go to http://www.cadem.org and click on Assembly District Election Meetings link for all the information. We need good people representing progressive ideas to the state party. You just might be one of those people - so please check it out. 2. Military Families Speak Out - Holiday Gifts Packing Party MFSO is again sending holiday packages to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the group is organizing donation events and caroling! Here's Pat Alviso's email about their plans. If you can't do all the events, please join the packing party or call Susan Kopicki (sckopicki@yahoo.com or 949/872-0966) to pick up items that you want to donate. We will arrange for a pickup time on Saturday. Update From Pat and Jeff and MFSO: Packages for the troops This is the time of year when we all pitch in and work really hard to get donations for packages to send to our soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have plans to go to three locations to table for donations outside of two Trader Joe’s in Long Beach and Cerritos on Thursday Dec 11 and Saturday Dec.13th. Call Pat to get on the list for a time period. If you want to go out on another day, call and we will get someone to go with you, get you set up with a table etc. and copies of the flyers to pass out. Please bring any donations you might be able to get and be ready for the packing party at our house December 14 starting at 2:00PM. Our address is 775 Havana Ave., Long Beach 90804. Please bring an snack to share. Veterans for Peace has made a generous donation of $250 to help pay for shipping. It will cost more, so please ask for donations for shipping too. See list of requested items below. MFSO Xmas Caroling With our Congress members home in Dec., we have plans to do some special caroling at places where two of our reps will find it hard to ignore us. Ed Royce will be on Dec 16 at 5:30PM and Dana Rohrabacher will be Dec 18 also at 5:30PM. We will have a short rehearsal first each day at a member’s home nearby. Call Pat for the details if you would like to come. In the past we have done this at theirs offices and it was a great event. Also, we have a date to do some caroling in Long Beach on Dec 13 at 6:00PM. A ½ hour rehearsal will be at 245 W. Broadway, Suite #101, Long Beach. After the short rehearsal we will walk to 3rd and Pine and do some caroling. Attached are the carols we plan on singing. Contact: Pat Alviso & Jeff Merrick, Military Families Speak Out, Orange County & South Bay Chapter, www.mfsooc.org www.myspace.com/ocmfso 562-833-8035 3. DFA-OC Survey - Request for Input! Wow! We won in November! Now we have to define our mission for 2009. We will continue to work to elect progressive candidates - but we also have to address other issues. And that's where we need your input. What do you want us to plan for our meetings each month? What issues are important to you? Please answer in a reply email the following questions and add any comments - we'll use them to plan future agendas. 1. List any and all issues you want addressed by our elected representatives at the local, state and federal level in the next year. Then, please suggest a group or speaker who could present on these issues. 2. Please rank your top three issues you would like us to explore by preparing for a presentation or speaker. 3. Please comment on any other aspects of our meetings - time, location, format, content. What do you enjoy - what would you enjoy more? Your input is very important to the steering committee! Contact: Susan Kopicki at 949/872-0966