BY VERÓNICA POSES
CHICAGO - "A local victory!" read a note sent by New York chapter organizer Ryan Lewis, after YS members in that city raised almost $50 more than their goal of $800. Nationally, the Young Socialists surpassed its fund drive goal by $832 with contributions coming in from 12 cities.

For the past six weeks, YS members around the country have organized dinners, collections at Militant Labor Forums, raffles, video showings, discussions with youth interested in the Young Socialists, and a number of other fund-raising events to meet and exceed the $4,400 that the organization nationally aimed for.

Lewis explained how the fund-raising was combined with events that would maximize recruitment to the YS. "The highlight of the drive was the weekly social events on Saturday evenings. These served as opportunities to for us to better get to know the young people interested in the YS, invite them to upcoming forums, classes, and actions going on in the city," said Lewis. "The key to the chapter's momentum was that we were able to organize to generate funds and send in money every week." The chapter raised their goal twice, from $500 at the beginning of the drive to $800 at the end.

During the last week of the drive, YS members in Pittsburgh organized a forum titled "The Struggle for Black Liberation" with a dinner before. After the presentation and discussion period, many of the 15 people there made donations and pledges toward the drive. Altogether, including the dinner, raffle, donations, and pledges, the chapter collected $281.34 that night.

As part of its ongoing fund-raising efforts, the YS took advantage of the regional socialist educational conference that took place in Birmingham, Alabama, December 20 - 22. At the conference, YS members sold almost $400 in raffle tickets. Prizes included T-shirts from unions on strike that YS members had visited, buttons and T-shirts featuring revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara, and a wallet made by Irish political prisoners. A student from Evansville, Indiana, who attended the conference, went back home with a set of the Collected Works of V.I. Lenin that he won as part of the raffle.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home