You came. You saw. They promised. The 2008 Promise To Remember Me has officially wrapped up as JDRF’s most successful to date, with an incredible 374 personal meetings taking place in congressional districts across the nation. Kudos to you, JDRF advocates, for making this program a huge success.
Some snapshots to take away from this program include:
*You successfully met with nearly 70 percent of our national elected officials – and all in less than a year. To look closer, you met with 68 percent of the Democrats and 72 percent of Republicans. You met with an amazing 90 percent of the Senate Finance Committee, a key group for our immediate and future needs, as well as with 75 percent of the House Energy Committee, another key group.
While many of your meetings took place at district offices, you were more than creative in finding great locations to meet up with your elected officials at. Some of you sat down for picnics with them; others met up at public appearances. And just to prove how flexible we are, some of you went all out, meeting elected officials at birthday parties and in one case, in the lobby of a hospital while the Congressman’s grandchild was being born upstairs. These locations prove not only that you are resourceful: they also prove that when JDRF advocates call, elected officials respond—no matter what else is going on in their lives.
Your determination was remarkable as well. We started out back in August with a bang, scheduling an impressive 39 meetings in a month that Promise had never taken place in before. And you kept pushing. As the months went on, your work level increased and increased. Rather than burn out, you thrived. Our final Promise month, April, brought in a total of 68 meetings on its own. Talk about finishing up with a flourish.
But the most important thing about Promise is quite simple: These meetings mattered. And continue to matter. With the renewal of our Special Type 1 Funding still in the works, this was – and is – a year that we need to grab and keep hold of the attention of every single elected official in Washington. What better way to have done that then to have spread across the country and met with such a high percentage of them? As we work toward that goal and our elected officials are called on to make decisions, you can be sure that JDRF – by way of your face and your voice – will be foremost on their minds. After all, you came to meet with them. You saw them face to face. And they, across the board, Promised to Remember You.
Thanks for everything you do and congratulations on a successful campaign!
Tom and Lorraine