Weekly Campaign Updates; August 24-31
Summary of this post:
Current Events (Hurricane Ida and COVID-19)
News and Press
Fundraising and Merch Store
We're hiring!
1. Current Events:
Hurricane Ida devastated the Louisiana bayous earlier this week, and I've been working with anyone and everyone I can to help the communities there get what they need. Some are having trouble getting access to places like Isle de Jean Charles (IDJC) Island because roads and bridges are washed out. I'm still waiting for the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) imagery to help with rapid damage assessment. I'll post updates as I receive them to our Facebook page.
I've been in touch with Chief Albert Naquin of the IDJC tribe, who said at least 10 homes in his neighborhood were destroyed, but he luckily only suffered minor damages to his roof and exterior buildings. He lives in Montegut, Louisiana near others from the tribe. Those who still live on the Island were evacuated before sundown the night before the storm hit, according to Chief Naquin.
You can read a bit about my work with the tribes in the area over the years here, and a time-lapse video of the land loss they've experienced in the last century is included below, which I produced for one of the tribes back in 2016:
COVID-19 continues to devastate Florida, marking the eleventh-straight-week of rising cases, hospitalizations and deaths (though the state now does its best to keep anyone from comparing deaths with other states- more on that here).
The time-lapsed video below combines the last 12 CDC weekly reports showing case rates in each county in the United States since June (cases per 100,000). Just three states - Florida, Arkansas and Missouri - are responsible for the bulk of the spread that we're seeing across the entire country now, which myself and others have long warned would happen if states like Florida continued to refuse sound public health measures, like masking, vaccinations, and public education.
Additionally, my sister and I each recorded a video for this website urging anyone who is still hesitant to consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine before it's too late. This came after my brother-in-law spent more than two weeks severely ill from COVID-19, requiring antibody treatment that only temporarily helped him get better. He's starting to recover now, but it's a terrifying thing to watch someone you care about struggle this way because they failed or even refused to get vaccinated. To find the nearest COVID-19 vaccination appointment near you, click here.
2. News and Press:
Monday I spoke with fellow Syracuse alum Michelangelo Signorile on SiriusXM Progress. We talked about my campaign, Desantis' failure with COVID-19, and Twitter's recent suspension of my media specialist's account (in addition to its suspension of mine for - and this is their official reason - over-sharing this Miami Herald news article.). Listen to the audio here.
On Tuesday, I joined Rick Outzen to discuss Hurricane Ida and the coastal communities impacted by its 16-foot storm surge. You can listen to that interview from Pensacola 1370 WCOA AM online here.
3. Fundraising:
I try not to send out 10 emails a day like a lot of other campaigns that ask folks to donate money to meet some arbitrary goal by some equally arbitrary deadline.
Our first fundraising deadline is in one month - September 30, 2021. That's when quarterly reports are submitted to the FEC. The bigger we come out swinging in terms of fundraising, the more serious our campaign will look and the more momentum we'll be able to build.
If you're willing and able, please consider donating whatever you can spare comfortably without overdrawing your account the way I used to do with my annual National Wildlife Fund donations (that's how a $10 donation turns into a $35 fundraiser for big banks - poor people try to donate to poorer people and overdraw their accounts).
If you can't chip in this week, please share our website and encourage others to share and donate, as well. Every dollar makes a difference.
Campaigns can do more than just stir up division. I want to lead by example with that, and that takes money from supporters. I've received no PAC money and am continuing to work on building a coalition of people who want to help us do something different and good for Florida.
T-shirts now for sale!
We launched the bare bones of our merch store online this week, and t-shirts are now available for sale! We'll be adding buttons, yard signs and more in the coming weeks so be sure to check back!
4. Staffing:
Right now, we're looking to hire:
Campaign managers (locally and nationally)
Field Organizers
Press/media specialists
Fundraising managers
Send your resume to info@RebekahJonesCampaign.com!
That's all for now, folks! Thank you for your continued support, and please take care of yourselves, your loved ones, and the strangers in your community!