Dear DWCAC Friends:

Thank you to all who attended the Debbie Wasserman Schultz Talk and Tea.  I was very impressed with all she has done in her career as well as her plans for the future of our country.  Jon Mills was very knowledgeable and interesting.  Please feel free to give me your feedback about hosting these types of events.  We want to keep everyone informed and alert to what we need to do. 
 
I went to the May 1st protest at Main and Depot Road for about an hour and saw many of you there.  Thank you so much for your advocacy and resistance to this terrible regime.  Please continue to call your state representatives.  As Representative Wasserman Schultz said, it is critical that we call our representatives daily and speak our minds.  It does have an effect. Speak out, Show up and Stay informed.  The power of a united people will save our democracy. 
 
Our next meeting is May 19th at Congregation B’nai Israel.  We will have two speakers from Grace Marketplace to discuss this important facility for the homeless and the struggles they are now facing.  As usual, we will be serving lunch and if you would like to purchase it for $10, please contact Marti McGuire no later than 5 PM on Saturday, May 17th, at martimcguire@bellsouth.net.  Marti has faithfully served our lunch now for almost four years, despite some health issues, so please thank her for her time and efforts when you see her.  Also, we continue to collect food items for Catholic Charities and your “loose change” for the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank.  I greatly appreciate those members who faithfully bring some contributions each month, despite my forgetfulness in reminding everyone about this opportunity to help!!!
 
A friend recently  spoke with Veronica Robles, the coordinator for the Rural Women’s Health Project  (SALUD) and the Human Rights Coalition about immigrant needs. She said that she has many young women with infants and small children, whose husbands have been taken by ICE. These men were often at work when detained and the wives were at home with their children.  They are now often without the father’s critical support.  They desperately need beans, rice, masa (corn flour), infant formula, and diapers (size 1 to 5).  Veronica recently talked to us about the challenges faced by immigrants.  If you feel so inclined, please bring one of these items to the May 19th meeting and I will get it to Veronica.  I know that this is an extra “ask” but I would be very grateful for this help as my heart goes out to these families who are so affected by the losses of a husband and father, with no idea what has happened.
 
Steve Wetstein, who is the legislative spokesperson for the Voter Education Committee, urges us to call our representatives with the following issue:
The U.S. Senate is now debating bills on social security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and veterans’ benefits. Please let them know that funding for these items must be preserved to maintain our commitment to the welfare of all Americans, rather than prioritizing tax cuts that would overwhelmingly help those who already have the most.  Please take the NAACP action that is at https://naacp.org/actions/tell-congress-reject-harmful-funding-cuts.  As always, this is not a fundraising appeal, but rather an opportunity to resist the Trump administration's priorities and stand up for what is best in our country.  Thank you so much for all that you do.
 
Also, I am asking that you call Governor DeSantis at (850) 488-7146 ext. 2 and leave a message asking that he sign the State Park Protection Act.  I stated that since Florida has been overrun with development that our state parks are particularly important in protecting sensitive ecosystems for future Floridians and now is the time to protect this land from outside development.  Thank you for taking a minute to do this.