From Lisa T. in Boca Raton, Florida:
On election day last year, I was with neighbors, friends, family and other volunteers from the South Florida team at a restaurant in Boca Raton. I had just spent my third day knocking on doors in Lake Worth, and I was so sweaty and tired, but so so so happy we had turned Florida Blue!
From Ed P. in Port Charlotte, Florida:
I was sitting in my living room watching the returns when the West Coast polling places closed. It was announced that Barack Obama was projected to be the next President of the United States! I jumped up from my chair and let out a loud whoop! I sat up until the new first family made their appearance at Grant Park and was ecstatic when they all came out. I called several family members and friends to share my joy! The next day, I went to the campaign offices here in Port Charlotte to share my excitement with the staff and helped them clean out the offices after a long and enthusiastic campaign.
From Donna C. in Ft. Myers, Florida:
My husband, Larry Hahn and I were in Miami for his emergency eye surgery. Luckily, we had voted early that week in our home district of Ft. Myers. Both Larry and I cried when Barack Obama was declared our new President. We heard clapping, singing and horns coming from the surrounding apartment balconies and from the streets. We went out on our hotel balcony and joined in the spontaneous clapping and singing from our nearby neighbors. We received a joyous phone call from our friends in Ft. Myers that night wishing Larry well and celebrating our big win! Larry's emergency eye surgery was a success as well as our early votes!
From Johanna S. in Hialeah, Florida:
One year ago today, we were in the City of Hialeah. We were driving people to the polls, canvassing 100% of our turf, and making the extra push to get people out there. We listened to the results coming in and broke down in tears because we did what we came to do and were victorious.
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Yesterday evening, a group of new Organizing for America volunteers and former Obama campaign volunteers gathered at the home of Janet M. in Mount Dora, Florida. They began the evening by sharing a potluck meal. Some got to know one another for the first time and others reconnected. The energy in the room was infectious as they moved from sharing food to outreach. Each person got a phone list to call fellow constituents, grabbed a pen and paper to write to a letter to Congress, or pulled up to the computer to write a letter to the editor. By the end of the evening, 247 phone calls were made, 84 individuals were contacted, and 127 commitments to calling or writing Congress were collected. It was a fabulous evening and the group in Mount Dora have already scheduled their next potluck to continue working toward change.
BROWARD COUNTY SENIORS ARE FIRED UP...AND READY TO CALL SENIORS!! We had some Obama campaign vets come out and put their phonecall skills into action! We also had some new OFA volunteers come out and show their support for health insurance reform. We heard several stories from volunteers who are taking care of ailing parents and dealing with insurance companies to settle bills, widows who thought their spouse had "good health insurance"--only to find out they did not and had to fight with insurance companies during their time of grief, stories from young people who were dropped from their parent's insurance plan after their 21st birthday and people with pre-existing conditions, who were unable to get health care and are now walking around untreated. Most seniors are happy to hear OFA volunteers calling to bust the myths about health care reform. Seniors are happy to call Sen. Nelson and are writing letters to him as well. OFA volunteers in Broward are also fired up about the PUBLIC OPTION!! They want it!
Joan Marshall is making calls!
