With all eyes on Georgia, both John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are organizing massive phone banking campaigns to connect with voters. But what can we, as genetic counseling students, do to help? If only we’d worked our butts off as applicants and trainees gaining experience having tough phone conversations… OH THAT’S RIGHT, WE DID. Our skill set as effect, compassionate communicators makes us ideal volunteers for this action.

Here’s our vision: we hope to mobilize a group of GC students to attend phone banking sessions run by the respective Democratic campaigns, with optional check ins before and after the shift for support and debriefing. You can obviously do this on your own schedule, but we're hoping that by banding together we can make it less intimidating and maybe even fun. We’ll also have a private Slack channel open so volunteers will have a space to chat or for real time support. We know it’s a stressful and busy time, but this is a great chance to get involved and build some community with fellow trainees! We’ll start by supporting the Ossoff campaign as they have daily opportunities for training and phone banking.

TO JOIN THE PHONE BANK BRIGADE:

• Direct message Connor Benson in Slack to be added to the phone banking channel. He can also answer any questions.

• RSVP for an Ossoff Campaign Training Session so you’ll be ready to roll on Phone Banking day: https://www.mobilize.us/crooked/event/342712/ (These occur daily, ~30 minutes.)

• Look out for Phone Banking Events on the GCRJ calendar in the coming weeks. Connor also be highlighting those in Slack.

The two races headed to runoff in Georgia are our last chance to avoid an obstructionist Senate with the power to block key legislation addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, economic relief for individual households and small businesses, climate change, etc. These are crucial issues for all of us, but it is well documented that they disproportionately affect communities of color. We therefore believe that fighting for a Democratic majority in the Senate, one that will endorse the urgent and ambitious action that our present situation requires, is a crucial step toward realizing GCRJ’s mission. Let's get to work!

For those looking for another way to participate with the above mentioned campaigning: there is an opportunity to write postcards to Georgia to encourage votes for Warnock and Ossoff!

It does cost $ (about 40-50 cents per postcard, including postage + $6 shipping/taxes), so do not feel pressured to pursue this option!

Here is the link to write postcards!: https://postcardstoswingstates.com/?fbclid=IwAR2TpWSCzTCjoQj_T7w1ORB49xPlVvF0vgWXh5MXbcoaSfRBSRTnmYAyTuc