STOP’s treasurer: Will we sustain 2020’s outpouring of anger and support?
Members and friends,
I’m Mike Scott, STOP member and board treasurer. Around the world, “2020” has meant loss and anger -- from the pandemic and policing and more. Yet last month, I hosted “Thankful for the Struggle,” and we as a STOP family came together with victories and hope: fall CBA ordinance passage, summer school-police de-funding, spring mutual aid, and every month new virtual town halls.
Many of these victories, from the eviction ban to de-fund endorsements, were hard to imagine before 2020’s uprisings. But of course, they weren’t miracles; they’re what happens when more of us organize and invest -- thank you!
2021 promises a vaccine and a “return to normal.” But of course, injustices like displacement and criminalization here are normalized, and there’s no miracle cure for that. As I consider budgets, I ask: Will 2021 leave our community behind once again, or will we sustain 2020’s outpouring of anger and support?
If you can, contribute today so that throughout 2021, we can turn 2020’s break-throughs into a new, better normal:
Give $100 a month or $1000 now so that for a month, we can support a young AmeriCorps worker becoming a STOP tenant organizer, for seniors fighting COVID and gentrification
Give $25 a month or $300* now so we can organize a virtual town-hall, for instance, on police-free mental-health first response with our new public-health organizer, Cheryl Miller
Become a dues-paying member for just $5 a month!
Or any amount -- no contribution is too small (or large :)
*You can deduct from your 2020 taxable income $300 in donations to tax-exempt exempt orgs like us, even if you don’t “itemize”! This per the CARES (coronavirus) act.
Give at stopchicago.org/donate or make a check to “Southside Together Organizing for Power” at 602 E 61st St, Chicago, IL 60637.**
As we close 2020, thank you for your commitment. Together, we can make 2021 transformative.
Mike Scott
STOP member and treasurer
**PS If you are 70.5 or older and have an IRA, consider making a contribution to us from it -- it’s especially advantaged under tax law passed in 2017.
