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Although it seems like Election Day is still a long way off, Just
Harvest's Just Vote campaign to register 1,000 new voters and to get 3,000
voter pledges has already hit full stride. Under the Just Vote plan, we are
partnering with human service agencies to find and register those who might be
unfamiliar with the political process and voting, or who may have given up on the
electoral system. Already 27 private and public agencies have signed on to help
our effort. And it is paying off: already over 200 new registrants have been added
to Allegheny County's voter rolls and close to 150 already registered voters
have taken the pledge to participate in this year's election.
Just Harvest staff has taken the word about this year's election on the
road, registering clients at Goodwill on the Southside, at the McKeesport Good
Neighbor Festival and Center City Health on Bedford Avenue, to name just a few stops
on the trail. Upcoming trips are planned to the Mt. Oliver Community Day, and
the Pitcairn Family Support Center picnic and many other sites.
"We are thrilled to partner with Just Harvest to learn from your experience mobilizing
disenfranchised groups and to coordinate efforts so that together we can reach as many
people as possible. Together we can increase the political power of all of us," said
Rachel Freund, Director of "Let Our Voices Be Heard" Coalition, a group of people from disability
communities who work to make democracy accessible.
While many agencies put out a consistent effort to register their clients, it
seems to be the aggressive Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) aspect to the Just Vote plan
that is convincing providers to partner with us. Following the close of registration,
we'll be mailing information about issues and setting up phone banks to get
back in touch with the new registrants to remind them that registering is only the
first step in the process. If these first time or long absent voters have questions
about polling places, need rides to the polls, etc. we'll address their issues.
All of this important work is being done through generous grants from the
Funding Exchange's Mobilize the Vote Fund, the Ms. Foundation for Women
and the Public Welfare Foundation.
ACTION: your vote counts! JUST VOTE!
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More than 300 people converged on Market Square to celebrate National Hunger Awareness Day and to hear Rev. Jesse Jackson
address the crowd about the causes of our nation's ills and to encourage everyone to register and to vote. America's Second
Harvest coordinated the June 3 national event.
Speakers at the Pittsburgh rally, from social agencies and political offices, reminded the audience that hunger and poverty
remain undeniable features of our seemingly abundant society. And they called on decision makers to end this blight.
On the same day the National Anti-Hunger Organizations (NAHO), a group comprised of FRAC (Food Research and Action Center) and a dozen other national organizations released a Blueprint to End Hunger. The Blueprint lays out a plan to cut national hunger and food insecurity in half by 2010 and end them by 2015. Key strategies outlined in the Blueprint include improving access to and adequacy of food stamps, child nutrition programs, WIC and emergency feeding programs. The document outlines action steps for federal, state and local governments as well as practical steps industry, labor, the faith-based community and other groups and individuals can take.
ACTION: Read the Blueprint to End Hunger and learn how you can take action. Call Just Harvest at 412-431-8960 for a copy or read it online at www.frac.org.
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by: Douglas Shields
Member of Council
City of Pittsburgh
The following quotation is attributed to the early Roman historian, Cicero (106-43 B.C.). "The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence. Another quote comes to mind after reading that one: "Everything that is old is new again."
As a member of Pittsburgh's City Council, I find myself at work on the same laundry list of complaints that Cicero leveled at his local government 2,000 years ago. In today's Pittsburgh, we need to balance the budget, refill the treasury, reduce debt, and control our tempers because we are essentially financially bankrupt.
Regarding Cicero's reference to "the mobs" (better known in these more enlightened times as ordinary people) and "assistance," I have a decidedly different take. I think it is safe to say that 2000 years ago, government was far less concerned with the welfare of the people it ruled.
Things are different today. We have long-standing public policies in place which recognize that government can and should be depended upon to "provide for subsistence" and more. It is in no one's best interest to maintain any level of poverty. It is in everyone's best interest to provide for human needs, to insure access to good jobs with a living wage and medical benefits, and to support the ability of every individual to achieve personal economic growth. We find value in working for the common good.
If we govern ourselves, why then is it that our government seems to come up short in addressing poverty and the need for human services? Why is it a constant struggle to ensure there is food available at the local food bank? Why do we have to fight to provide children in poverty access to good schools and health care? Why must senior citizens have to choose between prescription medicines and paying their property taxes?
The answer is that some of our fellow citizens still believe, like Rome's Cicero, that the "the mob" should be "forced to work" in decidedly lousy paying jobs without access to health care and without quality public education. Don't doubt for a minute that many of your fellow citizens think that is an appropriate response to poverty.
That is why those of us who believe in economic justice -- and who understand that the government's power is derived from people like you and me -- make it a point to exercise our right to vote. We know that it does make a difference. If you are prepared to concede your power to those who are working against your best interests, good government becomes more a concept than reality.
In the coming November election, I urge you to make a difference. I urge you to take the time to cast a vote for those who are working in your best interests.
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As Congress voted to extend TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) for the sixth time-until
June 30th- they were bombarded with other pressing concerns: the war on terror, the abuse
controversy in Iraq and many others.
While three major issues were holding up the Senate vot e- minimum wage, unemployment extension, and overtime -the barrier
now seems to be partisan fighting and the upcoming fall elections. Both parties want to highlight their differences but they also want to show that they can get things done.
With June 30th fast approaching, Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA) introduced a bill for a "clean" TANF extension, i.e., without any policy changes or reduction in funding. Both the Senate and the House approved the extension of TANF until September 30, 2004.
Advocates across the country, including Just Harvest, would like to see a multi-year TANF extension approved in September,
rather than reauthorization.Representatives from the Pennsylvania Welfare Coalition met with Senator Arlen Specter and his staff and he seemed very open to the idea. He also is open to amending the TANF reauthorization bill that has passed the House and is awaiting a Senate vote. But, it is not likely that the 108th Congress will get to it before the election day
recess on October 1.
It has been said that if reauthorization is not completed by July, it is a "dead issue" in the 108th Congress. Some Congressional leaders are also in favor of a multi-year clean extension, so it appears that our advocacy efforts
are working but our work is not yet finished!
ACTION : Call Senators Rick Santorum (412-562-0533) and Arlen Specter(412-224-4254) and tell them to "Do no more harm." Support a multiyear TANF extension.
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Strong and successful opposition from advocates across the country halted House and Senate attempts to pass several restrictive budget measures which would have meant severe cuts in services
and more tax cuts for the rich.
But that's not all of it. Happily, although the House passed a bill, the Senate still has not approved a FY 2005
federal budget thanks to moderate Republicans who are demanding that all tax cuts and new program expenses be offset by other tax increases or spending cuts to help reduce the deficit.
Without a budget resolution - which is supposed to set the parameters for spending - Senate appropriations will be capped at last year's amounts and it will be difficult to pass additional tax cuts. Appropriations discussions, which will decide how the money is actually distributed, have begun without the final budget.
And Bush is already planning for 2006. A White House memo sent to federal agencies warned that they should plan for cuts to almost all domestic programs if Bush wins re-election. The proposed cuts were buried in an OMB report but a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis reveals that cuts will be as large as $45 billion per year by 2009! Although the cuts would create substantial hardships for individuals, they would have very little impact on the deficit. In fact, the savings from
program cuts would be substantially less than the cost of recent tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent of households.
ACTION: Tell Senators Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter to oppose any new corporate tax cuts.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recently asked the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for permission to bar food
stamp recipients in his state from using their benefits to purchase candy and soft drinks (see the May-June Just Harvest
News).
The USDA replied with an unequivocal "No!", citing the potential for "confusion and embarrassment" in checkout lines and the fear that Pawlenty's restrictions could "perpetuate the myth that [food stamp program] participants do not make wise food
purchasing decisions."
Minnesota state officials called the proposal an attempt to combat obesity. But research has shown that food stamp recipients make healthier grocery choices than non-recipients. Moreover, since the proposal was based on sales tax laws (where, for instance, Tang is considered an eligible food stamp purchase, but a 50% juice blend is not), it is easy to see how shoppers could be confused.
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Is education and training an option for parents on welfare? Although "Work First" remains Welfare's policy, education and training is available for most people if they understand how to use this option.
Just Harvest's Welfare Justice Project brought attorney and long-time welfare advocate Peter Zurflieh, from the Community Justice Project in Harrisburg to lead a workshop on the topic.
Gail Bean, a retired Department of Public Welfare employee (DPW), came to co-facilitate. The workshop partcipants - affected people and agency workers - heard tips and gained insights on how cash assistance and "food stamp only" clients can best access education and training.
The participants had a lot of their questions and concerns addressed and they were excited about sharing the information with others.
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Board members, staff and members of Just Harvest gathered on Tuesday, May 4 to celebrate another year of successes in our battle against hunger and poverty. Our Annual Meeting and Dinner, held at First Baptist Church in Oakland, featured a delicious meal donated by First Baptist and cooked and served by Rev. Gary Denning and members of his congregation's youth group.
Board President Mike Stout led the post-dinner proceedings, focusing his talk on our recent accomplishments and goals for the future. He then introduced the returning board members and new member, former Congressman Bill Coyne.
County Executive Dan Onorato's speech was the highlight of the evening. Onorato discussed some of the county's plans for fighting hunger and proved his good intentions with a check for $100,000, to be shared among five county-wide antihunger
organizations including Just Harvest! Our grant will provide Just Harvest with new computers, new phones and conference
room furniture.
Thanks to everybody who called, wrote and visited Onorato about adding this to the $300,000 the county had
already allocated.
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As we go to press we're still waiting for a state budget and hoping it will include at least modest anti-hunger
increases. Despite studies which show that gambling is directly related to increased social problems (including food
insecurity), the state's budget decisions revolve around the politics of gambling and who gets the "best" deal. On the other
end, key legislative leaders have called for increasing the State Food Purchase Program, which has been flat for several years. We also hope they will boost funding for the popular Farmers Market Nutrition Program for WIC recipients and seniors.
Join "No Room for Poverty" Rally in D.C.
The national Community Action Partnership will rally in Washington on Sept. 4 to call for a White House
Conference on Poverty. Learn more at www.povertyrally.org. |
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Nutritious food in the summer will be a reality for more rural children in Pennsylvania thanks to a successful two-year lobbying effort by advocates across the state, led by Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center.
Congress' Child Nutrition Reauthorization, which passed in June, included a two year summer food pilot just for Pennsylvania which would change the definition of eligibility for some rural areas. Over the next few months the USDA will clarify which rural areas in Pennsylvania qualify for this pilot.
Other improvements in the five-year reauthorization: a pilot program which simplifies paperwork for Summer Food is extended to six more states and to private nonprofit sponsors in 20 participating states; fresh fruits and vegetable pilots
for school meals will be extended to three additional states; eligibility for free and reduced school meals is streamlined;
for-profit child care centers with enrollment of at least 25 percent low-income children will qualify for the Child and
Adult Care Food Program.
Pennsylvania Hunger Action deserves a standing ovation for leading this effort. And thanks to all who sent letters,
made phone calls, and lobbied to win these victories.
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Business Week, not normally identified as a leftist propaganda tool, focused its attention recently on increasing poverty
and the shrinking middle class. The May 31 cover story reported that one in four workers earns less that $18,800 a year with few benefits. It cited globalization, the declining value of the minimum wage, rising costs of college, and the 'Wal-Mart effect'- the downward pressure on wages and benefits caused by America's largest employer. Among the remedies named: raise the minimum wage, increase access to healthcare and child care, put labor standards in trade pacts and make union organizing easier for low wage workers. Where have we heard those ideas before?
Whoever prepared the report for Congressman George Miller (D-CA) has a dark sense of humor. You can tell by the title, Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart. The report concluded that low wages mean high costs for taxpayers. It revealed that a Super Center with 200 workers can cost federal tax payers almost half a million dollars a year because low-wage earners' families qualify for free or reduced school meals, Section 8 Housing, Earned Income Tax Credits, and other benefits. "Corporate welfare?" Indeed!
Demand for food stamps among the families of National Guardsmen and Reservists skyrocketed several hundred percent!!!
between 2002 and 2003, reports retired Col. Dan Spiegel, deputy director of Army Emergency Relief, a private organization. Poor military planning? Indeed!
Eric Bost, national Undersecretary of Agriculture for food and nutrition, wondered recently how much of the reported rise in hunger is "due to people taking the easy way out." Disputing his own department's research on food insecurity, Bost credited better government outreach, not growing need, for recent upticks in food stamp participation and longer lines at food pantries. Shades of Ronald Reagan's advisor Ed Meese.
Here is the good news... This spring, the United Nations passed a resolution supporting the right to food by a resounding
51 for, one opposed! The resolution called intolerable the fact that every seven seconds, a child under 10 dies of hunger. It proposed maximizing resources for sustainable food supplies for Third World nations. Countries with dubious human rights records like China, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia voted for the resolution. Here's the bad news... the United States was the lone dissenter.
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Congratulations to Childhood Nutrition intern Patti Iampietro on her graduation from CCAC's Dietetics Program and her new job at UPMC. Patti helped us distribute information about WIC and Summer Food and her passionate voice fought for Summer Food at many city pools and recreation centers this year.
We welcome Chip Peters as the newest member of the Just Harvest team and Field Coordinator for our Just Vote Campaign.
He's been involved in electoral politics since he was a child and had his first contact with Just Harvest while working
on Senator Harris Wofford's staff in 1993. He is collaborating with organizations throughout the county to get low-income
people registered and to the polls.
Diane Wuycheck is our new Marketing Consultant. With more than 25 years of experience, Diane is helping us build awareness and visibility of Just Harvest in the community, broaden our fundraising base and strengthen our communications
strategy. Her first major project is recruiting corporate sponsorship for the upcoming Harvest Celebration Dinner on October 14.
Our Summer Food intern, Sarah Orgass, is a social sciences student at Pitt and hopes to gain experience in advocating for social and economic justice while at Just Harvest. She's come to the right place and has already been throughout
the county educating about and advocating for childhood nutrition programs.
Our newest volunteer is Rachel Rose-Sadow, a senior at Mt. Lebanon High School. Rachel became interested in working for economic justice after reading Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed and learned about Just Harvest
from Ehrenreich herself when Barbara spoke in Pittsburgh last March. Rachel will be here all summer helping with a variety of office tasks.
And Just Harvest volunteer, John Fraser, has won a 2004 Community Champion Award for his volunteer work with us. He will be featured in the Post-Gazette on Monday, August 9, and on an upcoming segment of "Comcast Newsmakers" on CNN Headline News.
Look for him!
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Significant changes in the way low-income workers prepare and pay taxes have been proposed this spring and there is still time for us to have an impact on the results.
The US Senate passed the Tax Administration Good Government Act in May, creating a uniform definition of a "child" for all tax credits and adding funding for free tax preparation sites. We are advocating for a similar bill in the House because it would simplify filing for millions of households.
More unfair tax cuts proposed.
The House of Representatives voted in May to extend several of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts but left out many low-income
workers. They accelerated permanent relief from the "marriage penalty," making it effective in 2005 for most couples but not until 2008 for couples receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This continues the unfair tax policies we've seen in Washington in recent years.
The House also voted to make permanent the $1,000 Child Tax Credit (CTC) and increase the upper incomelimit from $149,000 to $250,000. In a limited attempt to remedy last year's callous omission of low-income workers from a CTC increase, the bill gave lowincome workers a one time benefit averaging $150 per family. The disparity between that $150 and the $20,000 tax break a family with two children earning $150,000 to $250,000 would receive over ten years is outrageous. The CTC also continues to entirely exclude families earning under $10,750.
These tax cut extensions not only exclude low-income workers, but also put at risk the programs these workers depend
on, by creating unsustainable budget deficits. Both extensions are in the Senate now.
In Pennsylvania. In the Pennsylvania legislature, Rep. Pat Browne (R Allentown) introduced HB 2671 to license
and regulate Refund Anticipation Loan lenders. (These lenders are tax preparation companies which offer tax payers loans of their anticipated refunds, at exorbitant interest rates.) The bill, which is in the House Commerce Committee, would require reasonable costs and clear notification to borrowers. Unregulated lenders such as H&R Block, according to a Brookings report, charge as much as 250% APR for a 10-20 day loan.
ACTION: Call Senators Specter and Santorum and tell them to vote NO on any additional tax cuts for the wealthy.
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Just Harvest Education Fund extends our warmest thanks to the newly-created Women And Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania for a grant of $5,000 to our Welfare Justice Project. And kudos and thanks to the Allegheny County Bar Foundation for its powerful commitment this year in the Attorneys Against Hunger campaign.
Just Harvest thanks all of our wonderful supporters for their recent gifts: First Baptist Church, Nutrition Inc., Sixth Presbyterian Church, Anonymous, Madalon Amenta, Wilton & Jan Barber, Patrick Burns, David Caldwell, Rosemary Coffey, William Coyne, Sheriff Pete DeFazio, Veronica Devlin, Mary Ann Dorsey, Winifred Feise, Sr. Barbara Finch, Robert Foley, Martha Garvey, Mary Gilligan, Alexandra Gruskos, Eva Havlicsek, Anne Hawkins, Genevieve James, Suleyman Karaman, Amy Lingham, Louise & Michael Malakoff, Irwin Marcus, Melanie & Art McDonald, Jeanne McNutt, Dr. JoAnn Narduzzi, Eunice Nelson, Pat O'Malley & Regis Burdelsky, Sonya Ralph, Francis & Rosemary Rifugiato, Molly Rush, Ann Ruszkowski, Gloria Santin, Lorraine Sauchin, Dr.
& Mrs. Harold Scheinman, Suzanne Snyder & Alex Wolfson in honor of Gloria Snyder's birthday, Lowell & Rachel Swarts, Jean Szoch, Carol Washburn, Jean Weaver, Marion Weitershausen, and Gina Wilson.
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A series of tips for citizens on how government operates and how you can participate.
In this issue . . .
Great Ideas for Action on Good Food
Ten Ways to Ensure Healthy Food For You and Your Family, a new publication from Farm Aid, highlights the connections between access to high quality food and family farms. Here's a summary of the ten ways:
- Ask questions to learn about how and when your food was produced.
- Be An Active Food Shopper
Tell your local grocer and restaurants that you want them to source their food from family farmers - and support those that do!
- Ensure That Your Food Dollars Support Family Farmers
Buy from family farmers directly and look for family farms identified food at their grocery store.
- Get to Know a Family Farmer
Plan a family visit to a nearby farm to learn more about how food is produced.
- Teach Children How to Grow Food
Plant a vegetable garden with children and help them plan and prepare a meal.
- Bring Food and Farm Issues to Your Community
Organize a neighborhood gathering and invite a family farmer to discuss the benefits of local, sustainable food production.
- Strengthen Local Support for Farmers
Ask your office cafeteria, public schools, colleges, hospitals, and nursing homes to buy from local farmers.
- Get Involved in Grassroots Efforts
Form or join a citizens' group that opposes industrial agriculture and works to strengthen family farm agriculture.
- Demand Democracy in Our Food System
Your voice counts! Hold elected leaders accountable to your demands for safe and healthful food. Stop agribusiness from determining our farm and food policies.
- Become a Food and Farm Activist
Join Farm Aid today - Save family farms and protect your choice for good food.
ACTION: To learn more about putting these ideas into action, call 1-800-FARM-AID or visit http://www.farmaid.org/info_help. Just Harvest can help you get involved in some of these efforts locally. Call us at 412-431-8960 to participate.
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The local farmers' markets are open and by the time you read this they'll be in full swing, with all their summer
produce.
To help families in poor neighborhoods, who often can't get fresh fruits and vegetables, the Greater Pittsburgh Community
Food Bank sponsors farm stands.
Also, after a year's worth of bureaucratic back-and-forth six local farmers/vendors now have government approval to
accept food stamps and wireless "swipe" machines so they can work in environments without phone lines. (Food stamps
are no longer paper coupons; they are Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) or ACCESS cards which are like debit cards). Just
Harvest initiated and shepherded this process throughout and purchased the costly machines with a grant from the RK Mellon
Foundation.
If you use food stamps, or have friends who do, urge them to look for the following vendors: Dillner Family Farm, Enon
Country Gardens (Beaver), Fabyanic Farms (Beaver), Four Seasons Farm(East Liberty Saturday market), Greenawalt Farms(East Liberty Saturday market), Harvest Valley Farms.
The Mellon Foundation grant also enabled Just Harvest and the Farmers Market Alliance to mail 9,000 beautiful post cards to residents in the East End. Families with young children and seniors received 23,000 brochures about the markets, produced by Just Harvest and funded by County Economic Development.
And the East Liberty Saturday market (open from 5am-12noon) sports a bright, newly-painted exterior.
To find out the locations and schedules of the markets look in Thursday's Post-Gazette (the Food Section), or go to
www.agmap.psu.edu.
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Just Harvest has been fighting, together with other groups in the community, to keep City of Pittsburgh pools and
recreation centers open to be sure that children don't miss out on important meals in the summer.
Despite the city's fiscal crisis, all of the city's rec centers are open, even if just to serve food. Some are run by a new foundation-based group, Save Our Summer 2004. Non-profit organizations are handling the others.
We won a small victory with the pools - sixteen out of the 31 pools are open. Children who would have had meals at some of
the closed pools are being directed to other sites.
Just Harvest doesn't run summer food sites, but we do outreach for the City and County sponsored sites. All together, about 300 sites served over 800,000 meals to kids last summer. We go to community festivals, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank's Farm Stands, the City of Pittsburgh's Farmer's Markets and other events to distribute Summer Food information. While we're talking about the importance of eating a healthy meal, we also do face painting for children and those who are young at heart.
Children and their families can call 1-888-FOOD-210 to find a site near them. Organizations who would like to book Just Harvest's Child Nutrition team to come to their event can call us at (412) 431-8960.
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Check out our new website!
www.justharvest.org
New address
New design by Dawn Wallhausen
And updated information!
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Save the Date
Thursday October 14, 2004
Just Harvest's 16th Annual
Harvest Celebration Dinner
A fundraiser featuring political comic Will Durst
Seeds of Justice Awardee, Molly Rush
Outstanding Silent Auction
Tickets available now. Call us at 412-431-8960
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Help Just Harvest Raise Money
By Selling the Enjoy Coupon Book
Available inAugust. Call us now to reserve your books.
Sell them for just $25 and help us raise funds.
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