Updates From Our Fall 2023 Grassroots Groups
“Dolores Huerta Action Fund (DHAF) is a 501(c)(4) focusing on densely populated Southeast and Southwest Bakersfield located in Kern County, which makes up 66% of the voters in CD 22. DHAF now has a paid team of canvassers, thanks to our December 2023 fundraiser.
DHAF also trains volunteer neighborhood coordinators, who in turn recruit their own community members to have ‘one-on -one’ conversations with their neighbors. They target mid to high propensity voters who are more likely to vote in the primary. DHAF also engages in other partisan activities including ballot curing and phone banking. Kern County is notorious for rejecting ballots; it can take up to one month to count ballots in a close race (and with two Democrats and two Republicans on the primary ballot it will be).
In September, they will move into focused ‘get out the vote’ tactics. DHAF’s goal is to contact 40,000 voters and identify approximately 28,000 supporters for Rudy Salas.
During the 2024 fundraising cycle, CVM will also support the Dolores Huerta Foundation (501)(c)(3). DHF is thrilled to announce the launch of a new ‘Get Out the Vote’ web page! This civic engagement hub is a one-stop destination for all voting needs, designed to empower voters with essential information and tools for the upcoming California primary election.”
— Noe Garcia, Director of Civic Engagement and Government Relations, Dolores Huerta Action Fund
“Valley Voices (VV), a 501(c)(3), recently hosted its first two candidate forums of the season, drawing approximately 50 attendees to the Kings County Candidate Forum in Avenal. This event showcased candidates for the Kings County Board of Supervisors and CA Assembly District 33. Additionally, VV organized the Kings County Congressional Candidate Forum in Hanford, featuring candidates for the CD 20 and CD 22 races.
In an effort to empower and educate voters, VV is developing a comprehensive ‘storybook’ with three sections: ‘How to Register to Vote,’ ‘What’s a Ballot,’ and ‘How to Vote.’ Moreover, VV is actively engaging with local high schools by participating in health clinics and fairs, where they distribute voter registration forms to encourage eligible high schoolers to register and vote.
To reach a wider audience, VV is leveraging social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook by creating and sharing videos about registering to vote. Additionally, VV has compiled a portfolio focused on workers’ rights, viewing this as foundational work to establish trust within the community. This trust-building effort has resulted in increased openness to voting among residents of Kings County, a testament to the impactful work of Valley Voices and the support of generous donors like you."
— Claire Fitiausi, Community Relations and Development Assistant, Valley Voices
“Delano Guardians (DG), a 501(c)(3), registered 82 voters between December and February 3rd. Working in the Kern county communities of Delano, McFarland, Shafter, and, if funding allows, Wasco, DG plans to contact nearly 6,000 voters who have voted at least two times in the past. They also plan to target the large local Filipino community. So far, DG has knocked on 7,000 doors, and about 2,000 of the people they’ve spoken with say they will be voting. DG is following up to make sure these voters have received their ballots, including passing out bilingual flyers (in Spanish and for the general election in Tagalog) to remind them to vote.
DG encourages people to vote by discussing local issues and showing people that it does make a difference when people vote. In addition to canvassing and registering voters, including registering students on college campuses, DG engages in phone banking, texting, tabling, and doing outreach via Spanish-speaking radio, TV, and social media. DG held a candidate forum in February and will hold two more before November. DG will also support voting by providing transportation to the polls.”
—Angelica Lopez, New Coordinator and Lupe Martinez, Longtime Volunteer Leader, Delano Guardians
“Community Water Center (CWC), a 501(c)(3), and Community Water Center Action Fund (CWCAF), a 501(c)(4) work together in Tulare county to stretch resources and maximize political impact. CWCAF targets voters in small, rural communities of color in Tulare County (20,000 Latino voters) who are impacted by a lack of safe or affordable drinking water, the same people the 501(c)(3) has been working with for years. Seventy percent of the people contacted reported being very concerned about having safe water to drink.
Now, during the election season, the Action Fund is engaged in partisan canvassing, phone banking, texting, and social media posts with information about Rudy and other endorsed candidates. All activities will be conducted in Spanish and English: door-knocking at 3,000 homes reaching 5,000 voters, calling 20,000 voters in targeted communities, and texting 18-35 year olds. The Action Fund has already hired 20 canvassers, and after just one week of canvassing, they have identified 547 people who want to stay in touch with CWC. With adequate funding, Kelsey thinks this number will quadruple by the primary. Eighty-one percent of these people told canvassers they would vote for the ‘water champions,’ and Rudy Salas is at the top of this list. After the primary, CWC will return to its non-partisan work and continue to engage people with water issues.”
— Kelsey Hinton, Communications Director, CWC