Odds and Ends

By Holly Miller, NRLC Field Coordinator

As we near the end of the year, this seems like the opportune time to do a little housekeeping with National Right to Life chapter development. Here follow some suggestions and ideas for the weeks and months ahead.

Tell Me About It

If your chapter has had a successful event, fundraiser, membership drive, anything, we want to hear about it! Your experiences as a chapter provide useful
information for other chapters around the country. So, if you planned something and it went off well, don't keep it to yourselves. Tell me about it! Write me at the National Right to Life Committee, 512-10th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004 or e- mail: nrlchapters@hotmail.com. Who knows, your chapter may end up being profiled in NRL News!

Looking for Something to Do?

Don't let the upcoming holidays send your pro-life work on vacation. This is an ideal time to benefit from the extra generosity people display around the holidays. So, have a bake sale or craft sale, or wrap gifts, as a fundraiser. Or have your chapter collect baby and maternity items and food for your local crisis pregnancy center. Sing Christmas carols at your local retirement home. But do something! This is a season where the gift of life is all the more poignant and celebrated. Let's remind our own communities of the preciousness of the gift of life and bring some hope to those who find it hard to celebrate.

And While You Are At It

"Now" is always the right time to expand your membership list and volunteer base. Take advantage of opportunities to invite pro- lifers in your community to join your efforts and get more involved in promoting the sanctity of life in your own neck of the woods. Then, keep them informed and involved as your group grows. You can never have enough members.

It's Coming.

January 22 is not too far off, so now is the time to make sure you are prepared for commemorating the 29th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Reserve your buses and advertise for your trek to a rally in your capital. Check with your state affiliate for specifics.

If you plan on doing something closer to home, vigils at a local cemetery and prayer breakfasts are appropriate and popular ways to memorialize victims of abortion. Make sure you have permits if necessary, advertising already in progress, and a system in place for personally inviting local pro-lifers. People respond much more readily when they receive a personal invitation, so take the time to encourage members to attend your event personally.

And be sure to order many copies of the NRL News Special Commemorative Issue. The topic is grassroots organizing! (See ad, page 11.)

Just a Reminder

My full-time job is to help pro-lifers start new chapters and assist existing chapters to grow and develop. That means your chapter too. So, by all means, call, e-mail, or write with questions, comments, suggestions, and concerns. I am always looking for new ideas to share with other chapters and also need to know what you need from me. Tell me how National Right to Life can make your lifesaving work easier. My mailing and e-mail addresses are above and my direct phone number is (202) 626- 8809.