Greetings to all! I hope you are all in good health and feeling thankful that we are Americans.

As we fight to advance the causes of voting rights, social justice, women’s rights, and environmental justice for all, let’s gather with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. We have so much to be grateful for with so much at stake.

During the past several weeks we have witnessed so much instability at home and abroad that it is difficult to comprehend, to appropriately absorb and respond. There is only so much people can take before their ability to react is overwhelmed. This does not bode well for our efforts to focus attention on elections, especially if people feel that their votes have made no difference in the recent past.

We see that most of the energy is coming from extreme partisan actors. As a nonpartisan organization, it’s our duty to mobilize the electorate (everyone) by organizing voter registration drives, getting out into the community to educate voters about what’s on their ballots, and ensuring they vote.

Every single election these days is proving to be “consequential.” We know that bad things happen when people stay home or fail to return their vote-by-mail ballots. I know many of you are overextended with commitments to family, jobs, or other worthy organizations. But as we are witnessing throughout our nation, preserving our democracy is becoming an increasingly urgent priority. We must secure our freedoms for both ourselves and our posterity. If we don’t, there may be little left of the rights we currently enjoy and the liberty and prosperity we all aspire to pass on to our kids and grandkids.

LWV-PA needs you to do your part next year to keep democracy alive. Volunteer to make a difference. Do it in big ways or small ways, but take a moment to learn about our work and our committees, and contact one of our committee chairs to get involved. We are all about Voter Services this year, so that’s a great place to start. But we have room for all talents, skills, and interests. We are a friendly and welcoming bunch, and we do good work in a nonpartisan setting. Take an active role! We need, and are thankful for, YOU!

Standing in solidarity with defenders of democracy,

—Martha Y. Zavala