Campaign Update
Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Defeat Big Tobacco! Stand Up for Kids’ Health!
On November 7, vote "YES" on Prop 86!

Inside This Issue:

With 13 days to go until the election, there are still many opportunities to help pass Prop 86:

• Donate a couple of hours to your local phonebanking effort to encourage fellow Californians to support Prop 86--click here for details about times and locations.
• Support Proposition 86 at one of the events listed below.
• Ask 10 of your friends to vote for Prop 86 and urge 10 of their friends to do the same.
• Send an email to your entire address book, reminding them to vote on November 7th.
• Write an op-ed or letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

For more ways to contribute to the "Yes on 86" effort, please click here. For details on any of the suggestions above, sample emails and letters to get you started, or other help in your advocacy efforts, please contact Kelly Hardy at 510-763-2444 or khardy@childrennow.org.

Please join us at one or more of the following events in support of Prop 86:

October 26
"Latinos United for Prop 86" event at Venice Family Clinic's Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center, 2509 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, 11:30 AM. Contact Sarah Mercer with Latino Issues Forum at 415-284-7220 or Elia Gallardo with California Primary Care Association at 916-440-8170.

BlacksforProp86.org calls on the California NAACP chapter to join the national, Berkeley, El Cerrito, & Los Angeles NAACP organizations in support of Prop 86, at the Trans Pacific Center, 1000 Broadway Suite 109, Oakland, 10:30 AM. Contact Ayanna Kiburi with National African American Tobacco Education Network at 888-442-2836.

October 30
"Yes on Prop 86" youth rally at Free Speech Area of California State University, Chico, 10:00 AM. Contact Phyllis Bond with the American Cancer Society at 530-342-4567.

November 2
Multi-ethnic event in support of Prop 86 with California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, and other health-related community of color organizations, at La Clínica Fruitvale Village, 3451 East 12th Street, Oakland, 10:00 AM. Contact Vanessa Cajina with Latino Coalition for a Healthy California at 916-448 3234.

Dia de los Muertos--"Latinos United for Prop 86" event honoring Latinos who have died from tobacco-related illnesses, at Cesar Chavez Park, Sacramento, 10:30 AM. Contact Elia Gallardo with California Primary Care Association at 916-440-8170.

US News Wire, "NAACP Supports California Proposition 86 to Fund Universal Health Care for Children"
"'By passing this resolution, the NAACP has gone on the record again as being opposed to smoking and in favor of better health care for children and adults," said Bruce S. Gordon, NAACP President and CEO. (Please click here for a complete list of endorsers.)

Los Angeles Times, "Money Talks When Topic is Ballot Endorsements"
"Police and firefighters have received more than $220,000 for being featured prominently in both the No-on-86 and No-on-87 campaigns."

San Francisco Chronicle, "Prop 86: Empower Voters to Save Lives and Money"
"It's very difficult to ignore the loud voice of the tobacco lobby that's saturating the media right now, but it's critical that you try. When you do, what you'll see is that Prop. 86 gives you the power to save hundreds of thousands of lives and reduce the costs of smoking for all of us."

Santa Cruz Sentinel, "Don't Be Fooled: 86 Will Save Lives"
"Predictably, voters are facing a barrage of exaggerated claims about Prop. 86 by tobacco companies--this from an industry that has a 50-year track record of obscuring the facts. They know that 90 percent of adult smokers started as teens, or earlier, and they won't give up that market without a fight."

National Public Radio's California Report, "Tobacco Companies Pour Cash Into Ads Against Prop 86"
Listen to a balanced NPR story on Prop 86 that aired on October 25.

The 100% Campaign, a collaborative effort of Children Now, Children's Defense Fund and The Children's Partnership, was created to ensure that all of California's children obtain the health insurance they need to grow up strong and healthy.
www.100percentcampaign.org

The PICO California Project is the united effort of 20 California congregation-community organizations affiliated with the PICO National Network. Collectively, we represent 350 congregations and 400,000 families statewide and are actively organizing in over 70 cities in Northern and Southern California.
www.picocalifornia.org