Oxfam Action Corps particpates in the Latino Congreso

This years National Latino Congreso brought together Latinos, from grassroots community organizations to national elected officials, to create a Latino agenda on a variety of issues, including climate change. Angelica Cox from the Las Vegas Oxfam Action Corps had the opportunity to attend the conference with Brian Rawson, Dugyen Nguyen, and Adam Motiwala to discuss Oxfam Action Corps' perspective on the climate change debate- the HUMAN FACE. The OAC team set up a table at the congreso and talked to latinos about the campaign. They also participated in the town hall meetings to learn more about the resolutions being presented. During the discussion on the resolution focusing on climate change, Brian Rawson presented the idea of "adaptation" and shared that since the U.S. is the number one emitter of green house gases, they should help those who are most vulnerable to climate related disasters. The Honorable Grace Napolitano was very receptive to Brian's comments and talked to him after the discussion. The team also had the opportunity to discuss "adaptation" with Earth Day Network. In the end, the OAC team was successful in adding "adaptation" to the amendment!

LVOAC presence at Early Voting

Thank you to Gabby for coming out with Lauren and Angelica to table at this event. The turn out was meager, but the caliber was great. We were able to speak to Vincent Ochoa and Frank Sullivan - both running for Family Court Judge as well as Nancy Allf - running for Nevada Supreme Court, seat B. All three signed the petition, Nancy put on a button and Frank displayed 2 Oxfam stickers right on the front of his shirt! They stood out, even from across the room as he networked with his colleagues and constituents.

LVOAC Monthly meeting _ July 2008

Thank you to Gracie, Seth, Ruth, Shawna, Tonopah, Barb, Gabby, Becky, Louie, and Jacob for joining Lauren and Angelica at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Maryland pkwy.

Jacob lead this months meeting and a really good discussion on Why People Volunteer.

Other topics discussed included:

• Oxfam Action Corps at a Glance handouts
• Angelica's recap of the Latino Congresso
• Lauren's recap of Coldplay and the 800+ sign ups we got!!! :0)
• Lobby Visit updates
• Climate Change news: All of these are posted on our Google group at lv-action-corps@googlegroups.com
• Early Voting tabling at the Sheet Metal Workers Union on 2560 Marco
• August 1: First Friday
  
• August 22: Rebels Give Back
• September 10th and 11th: UNLV Involvement Fair
• Upcoming Hunger Banquet
• Next Meeting: August 27th @ McMullans Irish Pub, 6:30 pm

Coldplay @ the MGM, July 19, 2008

Thank you so much to: Adam, Angie, Anupa, Becky, Danielle, Gracie, Jacob, Jen, Jennifer, Jessica, Kimberly, Louie, Marsha, Michele, Rachel, Renee, Ruth and Shawna!!!! And a very special "Thank you!!!!!" to Pete!

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about how we'd do. I had no idea about how the crowd would receive us with Vegas being Vegas. And, hosestly, as I hadn't ever worked with half of you guys - I was a little anxious about that as well. But it was all for naught! Pete told me last night that we had over 800 sign-ups!!!! You guys worked so hard and impressed the hell out of me. Thank you for being on time and for your passion and commitment! I hope you enjoyed the show and will consider joining the LV Oxfam Action Corps and working with us again in the future!!!!!

Again, thank you a million thank you! :0), Lauren

"We must hold together our world, not expecting that others will take up the slack, not doing casual harm to one another by failing to do our share. "

LV OAC August Calendar

Hello OAC crew! On June 25th the OAC gathered together at Panera Bread on Lake Mead and Tenaya to discuss upcoming events. Lauren, Angelica, Gracie, Ruthie, Michele, Jacob, and a new member Rene, made it out to organize the events. For those of you who could not make it, here is a recap of our discussion:

We all shared something that meant something to us. Jacob talked about an inspirational book called Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, Angelica shared a special gift from Costa Rica given to her by her host family, and Gracie read some letters about ending poverty written by her 4th grade students. After show-and-tell, we talked about the calendar and upcoming events:

• JULY 10th = Get together at Springs Preserve @ 6pm. Purely social, no Climate Change rhetoric.
• JULY 19th = Coldplay!!! Will probably have a get together before that to plan but have to cement volunteers.
• JULY 23 rd = Next monthly meeting @ 6:00pm. Jacob is choosing the location and a specific topic he would like to talk about.
• JULY 24th or 25th = Tentative lobby visits, nothing concrete, nothing confirmed but we're hoping to have some visits on those dates.

After that, we all picked a topic from the Climate CHange Q&A Sheet Lauren had brought, read it out loud and went around and discussed it. We also began preliminary planning for the hunger banquet.

Hope to see you all at the next meeting, which will be JULY 23rd.