Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

“It’s not how much we do, but how much love we put into the doing. It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into the giving.”
Mother Theresa

     Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Holidays! Happy Solstice, WeCAN Friends! We hope you and yours are weathering December well and are enjoying the scents, sounds, and activism of the season. We hope you are enjoying some much deserved rest and relaxation, too; you thoroughly deserve it! 
     There are a few new additions to this week's email, so please take a moment and scroll on through to the end to see what's coming up this week, in January 2022, and beyond. With Covid numbers rising steadily, we would like to remind you to wear masks when gathering at events and to get your Covid 19 vaccine booster if you haven't already. You can find a clinic or pharmacy HERE. 
     NOTE: Due to the holiday next weekend, we will be crafting the next Weekly Email Update on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22nd, 2021 (providing we have new entries) and will not take any submissions beyond 10pm that night. A reminder will be sent out this week. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

     Thank you again for your continued support and readership, We wish you all Happy Holidays! 

In solidarity, 

Joanna and Sam

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ACTION OF THE WEEK

Make Calls to Stop Partisan Gerrymandering in New Hampshire with Lean Left New Hampshire
Sign up to join the Fair Maps Coalition to call Granite State voters and connect them directly with their state representatives whom we need to vote NO on the proposed gerrymandered congressional map. Be sure to share the link with friends if you sign up.
Phone Bank Dates:
Monday, December 20th, 2021 from 5:30pm-8pm.
Training starts at 5:30pm and is followed by calls.
Click here to SIGN UP.
Contact Lean Left’s New Hampshire organizer Rebecca Davison for more information or support

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall DBE is an English primatologist and anthropologist

     New items this week include a virtual town hall, a queer dance party, and a New Year's Day bike ride, WeCAN friends. We encourage you to take a moment and scroll through to the end of the email to see what's new in Windham County--and how you can share your unique talents to become more involved. We hope you are having a safe and happy holiday season and are continuing to take appropriate Covid 19 protocols during your activism activities as we move into the colder weather. With over 700 new cases in VT just today and 50 in Windham County alone, we urge you to remain aware and cautious when gathering in person and indoors. Thank you! 

HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY, DECEMBER 13th, 2021-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19th, 2021

Virtual Town Hall on The Vermont Climate Action Plan
hosted by the Vermont Legislative Climate Solutions Caucus
Wednesday, December 15th, 2021, Online. 7pm.
Please register here.
The Vermont Legislative Climate Solutions Caucus is hosting a Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, December 15 at 7 pm to share our reactions to the Climate Action Plan, discuss plans for the upcoming legislative session, and to hear directly from Vermonters about what climate policies we should prioritize in 2022. The Town Hall will include regional breakout rooms led by legislators from your county.
On December 1, the Vermont Climate Council published its highly anticipated Climate Action Plan. The result of months of hard work by six subcommittees and the full 23-member council, the plan is an important step in climate action for our state.
We're still reading the full 265-page report and considering its recommendations and details. We hope you will read it, too: Here's a summary and here's a link to the full report. It includes valuable information about the current and projected impact of climate change on our state, with recommended strategies in five areas:
• Cutting climate pollution
• Resilient working and natural lands
• Vital communities
• Capturing carbon
• Cross-cutting solutions
The Climate Plan provides a roadmap for legislators and other stakeholders that will guide our policy decisions in 2022 and beyond. Importantly, the plan — which will be updated every four years — also includes a Just Transition framework to evaluate recommendations based on how they will affect Vermont's most highly impacted and frontline communities, including those who are:
• Highly exposed to climate risks
• Experience oppression and racism
• Are excluded from opportunities or have less resources to adapt to climate and economic change
• Bear the brunt of pollution and negative effect from fossil fuels and extractive economies
• Are more likely to experience a job transition as Vermont addresses climate change

“Our liberty is predicated on the idea that we can choose how to move forward with our health care and our family planning. And our pursuit of happiness has everything to do with and when and how to bring life into this world. So many of us want that opportunity. This is enshrining health care and the right to choose for all Vermonters.”
Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale, a Democrat representing the Chittenden District, on VT Proposal 5

     We hope you are enjoying a restorative weekend, WeCAN Friends, and are getting some much needed rest and relaxation. When you're ready to lend your talents and time to a cause this week, there are plenty to choose from! In addition, we would like to remind you that, once again, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments that may undo fundamental reproductive rights in the USA. To combat this at the local level, we urge you to read up on VT Proposal 5*, the proposed amendment to the Vermont constitution to guarantee the right to personal reproductive liberty for ALL Vermonters. Prop 5 must be passed by two consecutive legislatures before going to Vermont voters on election day in November 2022. Previously, it was passed by the state Senate in Spring of 2019. 
     If Prop 5 is passed, Vermont will be the first state in the country to explicitly protect reproductive liberty in its constitution. It's very important that a majority of Vermonters vote YES on Prop 5 on Election Day in November 2022. Fill out this form to show your support for reproductive liberty in Vermont, and Planned Parenthood will keep you posted on the latest updates and action items. To volunteer for the Planned Parent Action Fund, please check out their website HERE.
     Thank you and we hope to see your masked, smiling faces at an event soon! 

*https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-vermont-action-fund/prop-5

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What does Prop 5 say? Here is how the language will appear on the ballot in the voting booth:
  
 

What does Prop 5 protect? 

Who supports Prop 5 in the legislature?

What is the timeline for Prop 5?

Prop 5 FAQ Sheet:

"In 1973, the Roe v. Wade decision concluded that women have a constitutionally protected right to safe and legal abortions. That landmark decision wasn't the beginning of women having abortions; it was the end of women dying from abortions."
Jan Schakowsky
(D-U.S. Representative for Illinois's 9th congressional district, serving since 1999)

     Happy Sunday, WeCANners. There are a few new items this week, so grab yourself a beverage, pull up a chair, and take a look at what's going on in our community. Now, more than ever, your talents and abilities are needed here in Windham County. We hope to hear your ideas at an event or meeting this week! 

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HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29th 2021-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5th, 2021

Vermont Food Bank’s Veggie Van Go Upcoming Schedule
The First and Third Mondays of Every Month in the parking lot across the street from the main entrance to Brattleboro Union High School (131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 10am-11am. 
Veggie Van Go is a program through the Vermont Foodbank that gives out free produce and local food for people to take home.
November 29th, 2021
December 6th, 2021
December 20th, 2021
January 3rd, 2022

Important information:

• Drive through model- please stay in your vehicles
• If you are walking there: see a Vermont Foodbank associate but please make sure to stay 6 feet back.
• There are no income requirements, registration or paperwork to participate
• You do not need to be present to get food: you may ask someone to pick up on your family's behalf.