Writing a personal appeal to your friends and family is important. It helps the people around you to know what you care about, and it helps spread the word. Anyone can write one, and everyone who feels up to it should.
Keep it simple, and speak from the heart. Tell your friends and family what you’re doing and why, and invite them to join you. Then post your personal appeal in the comments below for others to see!
Here’s a great one written by Genevieve, one of our lead organizers:
To my dearest friends and family,
On September 24th, I will be joining hundreds from across the state of Connecticut in New Haven to participate in a global day of action put together by the environmental organization 350. The event is called ‘Moving Planet’ and it is a worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis. I wanted to take a moment to share with you my reasons for choosing to participate in this event and why this movement means so much to me. I hope you will take the time to read this, and consider doing what you can on 9/24 to attend a Moving Planet event near you, or to send support from afar.
To me this day of action is not just about supporting our nation and world to move beyond fossil fuels and to take the necessary steps towards solving the climate crisis – it is something much bigger.
To me this day of action taking place in New Haven and around the world represents not only promoting awareness of the global climate crisis, but is also a chance to bring the world together in unity. It’s about bringing people and communities together around the world to celebrate and focus on one common goal: our future. It is a platform through which we can all come together, regardless of our political, religious, or cultural backgrounds to acknowledge that we all share a common dream of a brighter and better future, whatever that looks like. It is about moving forward and creating this future we envision for our own lives, and also the lives of our children, and our children’s children. It is a celebration of our differences, but also our union as one people, all humans sharing one home, one planet.
I am going to New Haven on September 24th because in this fast changing world of uncertainty, fear too often takes over my mind and my perceptions of what the future holds, and I am ready to move beyond this fear and face it head on with determination and inspiration. Inspiration fueled by the single most powerful source of energy to create change on this planet: the power of the people. Each generation is faced with the challenge of leaving behind a legacy of what we were able to achieve during our fleeting time on this planet. I have hope that the generations alive today can rise to the challenge of creating a better and more prosperous future together. All it takes is action.
So let’s come together. Let’s create the change that we seek.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
-Margaret Mead
Thank you for your time and support,
Genevieve
Visit www.moving-planet.org/ to find an event near you or come and join us in New Haven on the 24th. Visit 350ct.org/move/ for more info.
Here’s the personal appeal I just sent out:
Friends and family,
[…Updates from the tarsands action and gratitude for their support. http://groups.google.com/group/justins-yagm-friends/browse_thread/thread/ee29e1fd0663fb38 ]
With great humility for the support you’ve given so far, I’m going to ask you to do a different thing now: attend an action near you on September 24th 2011 as part of Moving Planet (moving-planet.org). I have spent countless hours over the last six months helping to lead an inspiring team of now 50 volunteers to plan a massive, statewide rally and celebration in New Haven, CT on 9/24 called Moving Connecticut (350ct.org/move), and there are actions literally around the world. In late August I risked arrest for the planet, and in late September I’ll join with thousands of people from my state for bike rides, a talk-back with our politicians and community leaders, and a bike-powered outdoor screening of Wall-E. I think we need both of those (desperately), and I think more than ever before we have the opportunity with our collective action on 9/24 to rise above the chaos in Washington DC to say together, resolutely, “we are ready to get beyond fossil fuels.”
I believe our politicians will hear us, but only if we’re organized. That’s why I’m asking you not as an organizer, not as a campaigner, but as a friend, to join one of the thousands of actions happening across the country and around the world and witness to the movement that will move us beyond fossil fuels towards a healthier planet and a more just future (moving-planet.org). I have spent what feels like the majority of my waking hours since May building this movement here in Connecticut because I think this is one of the most important things I could possibly be doing, and I’d be honored if you’d join me.
In peace and justice, and always eager to hear from you,
Justin
p.s. I know some of the organizers in Minnesota who are planning a huge event in Saint Paul (http://mn350.org/moving-planet.html), and I know they could use help to get the word out and make the day happen. For my MN peeps, check them out or write to get involved.