BY LISA ROTTACH
NEWARK, New Jersey - Militant supporters in Des Moines have started collecting contributions to the Militant Fund from fellow workers in the city and surrounding region who want to help finance the ongoing publication of the socialist paper. "We've gotten off to a good start," reports Tom Alter, a socialist meatpacker there.

At the Bridgestone/Firestone plant gate, according to Alter, some workers pooled some cash for a modest donation to the fund. This is the fruit of weekly plant gate sales by Militant supporters, who report consistently good sales of the paper at this factory. The rubber workers there have gone through some union skirmishes and battles, including a hard- fought strike in 1994 -95. Socialist unionists who work inside the plant are planning to secure further contributions from co-workers.

"We also sent a team to Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, to sell Militant subscriptions and build the socialist conference in Chicago" on April 4, Alter added. They came back with some contributions to the Militant Fund too, including from a retired railworker who is a longtime Militant reader.

Partisans of the Militant in Miami are busy building a weekend of events featuring veteran socialist Tom Leonard, who will speak on Saturday, April 4, on the fight against imperialist war from World War II to today. Leonard will speak on his experiences as a unionist in the maritime industry after World War II in drawing lessons for the new generations of fighters against capitalism. On Sunday he will give a class on the Russian and Cuban revolutions. "We raised our goal from $2,300 to $2,500 because of the enthusiastic response so far" to the fund campaign and the upcoming political weekend," reported Rachele Fruit.

Supporters in Pittsburgh are also planning a fund-raising event April 4. Joshua Carroll, a leader of the Young Socialists, will be the featured speaker. He was part of a recent Militant reporting trip to Cuba that covered the Havana Book Fair, as well as the efforts by Cuban farm cooperative workers to produce more food. Harry, a young worker from Indonesia, will speak as well. He recently subscribed to the paper, and contributed to the fund after reading an appeal in the Militant.

These examples underscore the fact that organizing fund- raising events as early as possible is fundamental to a successful fund drive. To reach the goal of $110,000 in eight weeks, an average of almost $14,000 must be raised internationally each week.  
 
 
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