Keep on voting with your dollars and time.

​Keep on voting with your dollars and your time. So far, over 148 million people voted in the U.S. 2020 presidential election. So regardless of who you voted for, you were a part of the highest voting turnout since 1968, according to the Associated Press.
So, what does voting with your dollar mean?  Spending and investing your money is a powerful way of voting each day to support local communities, fair wages, and a healthy planet. Where you shop and what you buy sends a direct message to help business owners.

• Another powerful action is keeping your money in your wallet and not buying what you don’t need. Every dollar you don't spend, is a dollar you can put in a community bank or credit union, where your dollars will be used to finance jobs, housing and social services that every community needs.  Or, it can be donated to a charity that is taking action on climate change and other existential crisis. Also, the money you use to buy necessities, treat yourself, or spend on gifts for others is a vote cast for your values. 

Here are some more tips:

•  Every time you buy at a local business, you tell the world your community is worth more than a big-box store sale. 
• Every time you buy organic, you tell the world you want more farmers to grow healthy, safe food. 
• Every time you buy certified fair trade, you fight poverty. 
• Every time you buy from a business owned by women or people of color, you help build an inclusive economy. 
• Every time you don’t buy something, you tell the world you don’t need more stuff to have a good life.

Now, how can you vote with your time? You can better your community and your life by volunteering for causes you care about. It’s been proven that helping others is good not only for the recipients of your help, but for enhancing your own well-being, too.  Here you go:

• If you love animals, get vetted to help at a local shelter or help with pet adoptions.
• To help our environment, plant a garden, compost, share plants or seeds, help keep parks and playgrounds clean, use less concrete and more natural landscape designs.
• Help fight hunger and homelessness by donating used clothing and non-perishable food or volunteering at a local food bank or organization for helping others.
• To help education, donate books and unused school supplies, volunteer for adult education programs or join a PTA to have your voice heard at school board meetings or on school committees.
• HELP the elderly by signing up with an organization and getting clearances to help run errands, make deliveries or help run events.

Whatever you do, just keep voting by doing what you can to help.  Spend your money and time, so it helps you and  others with better health, environments, learning, play and safety. Sustainability needs to be sustained and we can’t solve the same problems with the same energy or thinking that caused the problems.
Dennis Smiddle – Executive Director of FANS 4 HELP ( a new 2020 nonprofit).