Hgse

November 2018 Donation:
Four Directions.

This month, the HGSE Mitzvoters are supporting Four Directions, 501(c)4 organization whose mission is to advance equality at the ballot box across Indian Country. HGSE Mitzvoters believe in equal and inclusive laws and practices that allow all who have the right to vote to exercise their right to vote. Laws that disproportionately bar groups of people from voting, in this case, Native American tribes, are unjust. As such, we are donating to Four Directions. The organization works with Lakota and Sioux tribes, and leverages partnerships across Indian country in Nevada, Arizona, Montana, North Carolina, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota to promote native voting rights, voter empowerment, voter protection, and voter engagement.

—Lavi, MITZVOTERS member

June 2018 Donation:
Key Collegiate.

We decided to support the new school achieve its goals, one of which was to prioritize students who are homeless by focusing on two innovative ideas to support them: (1) a walking bus to get students to and from shelters that don't qualify for bus transportation, and (2) a "family support room" that provides a space for parents who are homeless to charge their phones, use a computer, have a coffee, etc., while they wait to pick up their children.

February 2018 Donation:
The March for Our Lives.

"The right to bear arms ... does not and never will overpower the individual's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We cannot protect our guns before we protect our children."

—Florence Yared, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivor

When our Mitzvoters team met the week after the February 14 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, there was no question who we wanted to support this quarter. The Parkland students were raising their voices, demanding meaningful gun control change, and calling out politicians owned by the NRA. Our team wanted to elevate and amplify student voice, and help Parkland students travel to DC for the March for Our Lives on March 24.

Supporting student voice was especially personal for those on our team who work directly with high school students every day. Following the Parkland shooting, teachers and school counselors talked with students, who were terrified about their safety, angry that nothing is being done at the federal level, and heartbroken at the loss of peers. We implemented stepped-up active shooter drills in the months following the shooting, and watched horrified as several more school shootings occurred over the course of the winter and spring. We walked out with our students on April 20th, feeling a mix of pride for their activism and anger that this activism is even necessary (the day of the walkout, indeed, there was yet another school shooting). As adults, we felt shame that our country has so fundamentally failed our young people. To process my own feelings as a school counselor following the Parkland shooting, I wrote an op-ed about gun violence that was published by the Baltimore Sun.

On March 24, our team attended marches across the country, from the largest demonstration in Washington, DC to Los Angeles. It was a day that felt surprisingly hopeful, amid the tragedy of young lives cut short and inaction by our lawmakers. Our students are our future, and I find solace in knowing the voting population and leaders of tomorrow will be comprised of our engaged, compassionate, and articulate youth.

—Laura, MITZVOTERS member