I have been enjoying my time as the Midwest co chair of this Promise to Remember Me Campaign for JDRF!  It has been my pleasure to work with wonderful volunteers and staff from across the country toward this big goal we have set.  Beyond the numbers, it feels good to give our community a voice, one that can truly make a difference.  I hope that this campaign has also made people feel less alone in dealing with Type 1.

As of this writing, we have just 100 Promise meetings to go to meet our goal of 432 for the 2012 campaign.  We have never been in this great of a position at this point in any other Promise campaign.  Now that being said, general wisdom would have it that the last 100 meetings might be a bit more difficult to get and may take more effort on our parts.

To that end, let me recommend that if you are still relying on emails to try to schedule a meeting--put down the keyboard and pick up the phone!  Those offices must receive hundreds of emails a day and they are very easy to push aside.  A phone call, not so much.  A couple of phone calls a week, even tougher to ignore.  

Put follow up phone calls right into your daily schedule so that you remember to do it.  We only have 2 1/2 months to go in this campaign and we can't afford to let very much time to go by without contact.  If you are being told there is no time in the legislator's schedule, let them know that you will keep checking in periodically to see if 5 minutes has opened up.  

When you call, ask if the legislator has any public appearances coming up to which you could bring some families for a quick photo op.  These are low effort for the scheduling staff and they often turn into very productive Promise meetings!

I know there are several members who will not be running for reelection or who are retiring after this term.  We still need to hold Promise meetings with them. Chances are very good that they will be voting on Special Diabetes Program legislation before they leave office.  You can use the Promise meeting as a time to give them a special "thank you" for their support as they leave office.

There is a long break coming up for our legislators this month.  (I have posted the recess schedule for the rest of the Promise campaign below.) Use the rest of this week to do your best to get on their schedule during that recess.  Be politely persistent and you should see results!

Thank you all so much for your hard work during this campaign!  We are getting close to the finish, just 10 more weeks to go...

Jill Geisendorfer
Midwest Co Chair
JDRF Promise to Remember Me Campaign 2012


House Recesses

February 18 – 26  House Recess
March 9 – 18  House Recess
March 30 – April 15  House Recess
April 20 – 23  House Recess
April 28 – May 6*  House Recess

Senate Recesses

February 20 – 24  President’s Day Senate Recess
April 2 – 13  Senate Recess
April 30 – May 4*  Senate Recess

*The Promise Campaign ends on May 1st