life blood

I know we're all besieged with requests for donations, and many of us also put our selves, as well as our wallets, on the line. I just wanted to alert you to an important and relatively painless option for the peace movement.

United for Peace and Justice, the umbrella group for more than one thousand anti-war organizations, is looking for people to join its "sustainer program," where a certain dollar amount is charged to your credit card every month or every three months. It can be as little as $5.00. Most of us can afford $5.00 or $10.00 a month without noticing a difference.

If you've ever done any political organizing, you know it can't be done without money. (If you haven't, take my word for it!) The internet saves a fortune, but funds are still needed.

I can tell you without reservation that UPFJ in New York City, at least, runs on an absolute shoe string. If you donate, you're not paying for administrative overhead or big salaries. You're building a movement.

Here's a bit from their email:

United for Peace and Justice is the largest anti-war coalition in the country with more than 1,200 member groups: national organizations, regional coalitions and local groups. We have the commitment of our member groups to work cooperatively in order to maximize our impact. We have a structure, with an elected national leadership, designed to encourage democratic participation and decision making. We have a dedicated and hard-working staff, prepared and able to take up the work of this broad coalition. We have several major campaigns in the works, as well as a massive mobilization planned for this fall, all of which are designed to target the strategic vulnerabilities of the Bush administration's war drive.

What we do NOT yet have in place is a steady, reliable flow of money coming in to make sure we can carry out our plan to strengthen and broaden the anti-war movement and bring the troops home!

Click here to join.