Making a Difference Beyond the Ballot Box

Dear Friend,

We all feel it.

With Election Day less than a week away, we’re all experiencing a complex combination of thoughts and emotions as we prepare for the final days of a contentious 2024 election season and an uncertain future.

Poll after poll shows the Presidential race is a toss-up. Predictions are all over the map for what to expect in both houses of Congress. And at a time of intense political division here in the U.S. and abroad, the stakes feel massive.

With so much on the line, it’s easy to feel like our individual actions don’t matter.

Yet each of us can make a difference in the days leading up to — and after — Nov. 5.

It starts, of course, with voting.

But while it is critical that all of those who are eligible to vote make our voices heard at the ballot box, our opportunity to shape our future does not begin or end there.

VOTE EARLY

We can also make a difference by encouraging those around us to follow our lead and cast their ballots — and by making family members, friends, and neighbors aware of the fact that, for the first time in our state’s history, we all have the chance to vote in person before Election Day through early voting.

The Community Foundation has been a vocal advocate for the new early-voting law — and we’ve been partnering with our Secretary of State to help educate Fairfield County residents about the rules around early voting.

To help share information about this opportunity, you can visit our website, which includes key information about early voting, how to register, and more.

PLEDGE TO FOSTER CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

If you are an employer, you can also play a key role in making it easier for your employees to have the time and resources they need to vote.

That’s why you should consider joining the Community Foundation in signing the Connecticut Office of the Secretary of State’s Civically Engaged Organization (CEO) nonpartisan pledge, which encourages business and organizational leaders to foster civic engagement among their work forces.

Leaders who make this simple pledge can reap considerable benefits for our society and communities — and their organizations. A growing body of research shows that employees seek out and are more prone to stay at companies that demonstrate community and civic engagement.

By signing the pledge, organizations commit to giving employees time off to vote on election days, as well as to posting and publicizing election dates and polling place look-up tools.

RESPECT FOR THE PROCESS

And while we all have a role to play between now and Election Day, irrespective of the outcome, our work will not be done on November 5th.

It’s possible that we will see challenges that threaten to disenfranchise voters, attempts to rewrite our democracy’s rules, or even civil unrest.

And that’s why more than ever, it’s important for each of us to respect and stand up for our democratic institutions, systems, and processes.

The coming weeks will be stressful and emotional, to be sure.

But in the face of great challenge comes great opportunity. Regardless of where you stand on the many issues of the day, now is the time to make sure we and those around us not only participate in the election, but to double down on our collective commitment to ensure our democracy is and remains accessible for everyone.

In Community,

Mendi Blue Paca
PRESIDENT & CEO
FAIRFIELD COUNTY’S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION