Post Card and Letter Writing Events

Holding a post card and letter writing event is simple to organize and easy for people to participate in. It also has the added benefit of getting your message to members of Congress in a strong way, since they know that people seldom take the time and energy to send a handwritten message.

You can do this as a stand-alone event such as a house party, as an addition to another event such as a talk or town hall or when you are tabling in public such as at a local community fair.

Tips:

• If you are organizing this ahead of time, let people know that this will be a post card and letter writing activity because it will likely draw more people.
• Make the event as simple as possible by providing materials, instructions, addresses and stamps. You can ask people to chip in to make this more affordable.
• Rather than pre-printed post cards and messages, bring a variety of post cards, stationary and envelopes and encourage people to write their own messages based on a common theme.

What you’ll need:

1. Multiple copies of or a large piece of paper you can post that has a list of the addresses of your members of Congress (House and Senate). Encourage people to write to the Washington, DC offices of both of their US Senators for your state and their one member of Congress in the House of Representatives. If you don’t know who they are, find information about the Senators and Representatives at GovTrack.us. You’ll find maps of the Congressional districts and links to the members’ websites.
2. Basic information about National Improved Medicare for All and how it compares to other health legislation, the Affordable Care Act and American Health Care Act so that people can inform their message. You’ll find information on the Tools for Education page.
3. For an extra bonus – find out if your Representative has endorsed HR 676. Click here for that information.
4. Post cards, stationary, envelopes and stamps.
5. Pens and writing surfaces such as clip boards or tables.

Instructions:

1. Go over the message: For post cards it will have to be very brief – Vote against the American Health Care Act. Support National Improved Medicare for All as embodied in HR 676. Add one more detail if you have room. Letters can be longer – in addition to the messages above, you might want to explain why you want them to support National Improved Medicare for All with a personal story.
2. Go over the basic background information.
3. Explain who people are being asked to contact (both Senators and one Representative) and where the addresses are.
4. Allow people to choose materials.
5. Get to writing!
6. Collect the post cards and letters when they are finished. Make sure they are properly addressed and have an appropriate stamp.
7. Mail them promptly.